Who Your True Friends Are
by tinybee
Summary: Rewrite. After being betrayed and sentenced to Azkaban,Harry escapes with the help of Hermione and twins.With half the order hunting them, will Harry and Hermione ever be safe? What happens when they fall in love with the sons of the charmed ones? ON HOLD
1. The Betrayed Saviour

**I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them.**

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die. Some Luna/Neville thing going on as well. If you don't like the idea, don't read it. They won't be main characters, but they will feature in the story.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**Summary: **Harry Potter has been betrayed by most of those that he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But what happens when things don't go the way that they had planned? They meet the charmed ones and their children, fall in love and finds out that this is where they belong. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bringing with it the past that they both had sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/?, Hermione/?**

**Poll up for choosing.**

* * *

_October 23rd - Ministry of Magic_

The courtroom was filled with noise as many people glared down at the defiant raven haired young man. His seemingly glowing emerald eyes bored into the minister's, Cornelius Fudge, as the man smirked in obvious Triumph. As the man shifted in discomfort at the chains that held him to the rigid chair, Fudge's face seemed to be nearly splitting in two.

"Harold James Potter you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for the murder of Eric and Helen Granger, Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley. There will be no chance for bail."

Harry closed his eyes, fear twisting in his gut at the mere thought of the place that his godfather, Sirius Black, had been thrown into without trial for twelve years. Although, he mused silently as he took in the mixture of shouts of approval, the sound of some crying, and a few still proclaiming his innocence, things couldn't get any worse that it currently is right now. Hmm...maybe he should knock on wood.

Harry's eyes darted around, scanning the crowd in a near feverish way as he was dragged away by an expressionless Kingsley and a young auror who seemed to believe that Harry would turn around and curse him even though he was chained and without a wand. Where did Fudge find these people?

His eyes finally locked on Hermione Granger, one of his best friends since first year, as she looked at him as she cried. Eyes swimming with emotion, her voice was impaired by her tears and deep gulps of air, but he had heard her. She still believed in him. She _believes _that he didn't kill anyone. She's sticking by his side without any notion that she was going to up and leave him anytime soon. Figuratively speaking of course.

His heart seemed to swell at the sight of seeing his 'sister' stand up to defend him, even when he had been accused of murdering her parents in cold blood. She knew the truth. Knew him enough to know that he didn't take sadistic pleasure in the torture and killing of other human beings.

He was momentarily distracted by Ron Weasley. Donned in auror robes and acting even _more _of an idiot than his older brother, Percy, the redhead was one of many who had said that he was guilty. He was one of the many who had shouted for the dementors kiss, too. Maybe the way that Ron was acting now was because of him. It was no secret to Harry what Ron was always jealous of him. Whether it would be because of money, fame, attention, being magically more powerful or even because he was closer to Hermione. What might have pushed him over the edge was the fact that Harry was chosen to be auror over him. Harry had declined, the thought of working under Fudges orders in a fashion made his skin crawl. Whatever the reason, it had caused Harry to think for one panicked second that his heart had stopped. The sting of the betrayal of one of his best friend's was deep and painful.

Ginny and Percy glared at him from their own seats close to the front. Ginny. The young woman was beautiful, Harry couldn't deny that. She was funny, sneaky, up to this point thought loyal, and had a fiery temper to match her hair. Harry was near in love with her, and she him. Or so he had thought. Her eyes that had always held a warm welcoming glow to them now shot him cold, angry looks mingled with disgust. It tore at his heart.

The ex head boy held a weariness in his eyes though, not something that Harry would have put with him. The look had made his face look much more tired and older. He was sitting by Fudge, his hands fiddling with the quill that was in his hands. It was a nervous habit that he always had. Harry didn't have time to puzzle over the strange emotions that Percy had shown when he glanced down at him, the look of hatred oddly absent from his otherwise angry expression.

His resigned eyes landed on Mrs Weasley next, catching her just as she shook her head. The motherly woman, her face so normally filled with warmth and love, whose hugs had been smothering but yet also comforting, only looked back at him with disappointment and anger. Her husband, Mr Weasley, looked at him with eyes that showed no emotion to what he was currently feeling. His face gave him away though when it turned a shade that only Uncle Vernon had perfected whenever the word 'magic' had been uttered in his house.

The two aurors tore him away from his observations, they were dragging him away just as the silencing charm that had been placed upon him earlier finally wore off. Deliberately slacking in the grip of the aurors, his full body weight to be carried by them took them by surprise; they had also expected him to be fighting himself free. Both men stumbled, their tight hold on him slipped slightly.

He silently thanked Quidditch and Dobby the house-elf, both of which helped in not only making him no longer look like a half-starved man, but also gave him that late growth spurt, something that he thought he would never have. No longer was he short, he now stood at a proud six foot exactly, his body having gained some muscle after all the chores he had been subjected to at the Dursley's, the training he had undergone for the final battle as well as all the quidditch that he had played over the years. His wild black locks now reach his shoulders, more manageable now at it's length.

"I know that I am innocent, and when you realise the truth, you'll be too late!" The sound of Harry's voice cut through all sound in the courtroom. "Voldermort-" flinches from most in the courtroom, "-killed them! Yet you blame me? Don't expect me to come and save you when you fall!"

"Silence!" Fudge bellowed.

"You always make sure the innocent are locked up! Letting the death eaters roam free!"

"You will stop accusing m-"

"You're pathetic! A stupid, pathetic, corrupted little bast-"

Kingsley quickly grabbed his chained arms, a firmer hold on him than before, and pulled the struggling man through the doors, ready to be sent to Azkaban. His partner quick to cast a silencing charm lest Harry shout anything else at the minister. Harry's eyes, though, never left Hermione's glazed brown ones, letting his focus shift and his face soften. He kept them locked on her until the doors closed, finally separating them apart.

The two aurors had taken him to his cell in Azkaban, not once noticing or caring that Harry was staring behind them unseeing. They had taken him, via portkey, to hell. They had then proceeded to haul him into said Hell, forcing him to walk by cells that held various people who did crimes between stealing all the way up to murder. _And I get to 'live here, oh joy, _Harry thought darkly, recognising some of Voldemorts' followers.

Stopping just outside a cell, Harry was unceremoniously thrown in. His arm hit the hard floor and was nearly crushed when he landed on it while is head smacked the wall. Gasping in pain, Harry felt a dementor closing in, the aurors walking away and finally leaving him there to rot, a guard locking him in the small room.

"Just like Black, a murderous piece of filth."

"Yeah, following in his footsteps, Godfather and Godson."

The words hit Harry's ears as black spots filled his vision. _Must have hit my head harder than I thought, _Harry's mind brought up before he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

-------

_Grimwald Place_

"Goddamn it, Dumbledore, Harry's innocent!" Sirius Black spat, his eyes full of suppressed fury, only being held back by Remus as he tried to make a grab at the tired looking headmaster.

The thought of his godson, the nineteen year old that he was supposed to protect, the child that James and Lily had entrusted to him to look after, was about to be thrown into a hell on earth because he, Sirius, couldn't protect the boy properly. The realisation left a sour taste in his mouth and a pang in his heart.

Dumbledore looked at Sirius and Remus sadly, "I know, Sirius. Trust me when I say that I have tried everything that I could. Cornelius couldn't be swayed unfortunately. It was all I could do from letting him give you Mr Potter the dementor's kiss. Seeing as he is still the boy-who-lived, they couldn't do much about it as they thought they would possibly use him at a later date."

Dumbledore sat down heavily on one of the many chairs in the kitchen. "But, alas, Cornelius refused to see what was right in front of him. He has been taken by greed and power, punishing the poor boy partially out of pure spite."

The resignation in his voice caused Sirius to deflate slightly in his friend's arms, the grip lessening when Remus assured himself that the convict wouldn't lunge at the older man.

"What do you mean by 'partially'?" Remus inquired, his eyes flickering between the two men.

"Young Mr Potter has been a hindrance to our dear minister for years. Being shown up in front of the entire Wizarding world time and time again, his job on the line, losing support from influencial people...I could go on."

"No wonder why Fudge would think about doing something like that,"

"You think Harry deserved it?!" Sirius bellowed, turning to glare at his friend.

"What? No!" Remus exclaimed. "I only meant that I could see it from his point of view. I never said that it was right!" He added at the murderous look that Sirius had on his face.

"Cornelious would also have a lot of people coming to him for help and protection. They would be under his control." Dumbedore continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted by the two younger men. "It would also be a hit to us as well. It might even be partly to bring out Sirius. To save his godson."

"Well he was right on that last part," Sirius growled, "i'm going to get Harry back one way or another, and nothing you say or do will stop me."

"Sirius, please calm down, we'll work something out."

"What can we do, Dumbledore? He's only Nineteen years old, for crying out loud!" Sirius growled.

"He has a point, Dumbledore. Unless Harry is adept at wandless magic, which he's...not, he cannot perform the spell to produce a full corporal patronus."

"My godson is suffering in there! Think about what he's going to have to remember!" Sirius slammed his hands down onto the table, causing Hermione, who had been sitting in the far corner, unnoticed by two of the three men in the room, to jump before speaking up.

"He's an animagus, Sirius, he'll know what to do, even if he does not think of transforming at first." Hermione whispered, catching both Sirius and Remus off guard. They snapped their heads round while Dumbledore smiled at her warmly, his eyes regaining some of their famous twinkle.

"He won't stay in there for long, don't worry. He knows that he is innocent as so do we. Nothing can change that. Not the comments that people pass to one another, not the articles in the Daily Prophet and certainly not by that abomination that they called a trial." Hermione took a deep breath, her eyes were suspiciously bright as thought suddenly came to mind. Tears started to pool as she continued to think about it, causing the silently stunned, if not apprehensive, men to converge around her.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Remus wrapped his arms around the smaller girl and tried to comfort her, unintentionally causing her to lose the last remaining thread of control that she had.

"R-Ron! I-i c-c-cant belie-ve that he-he didn't def-defend Harry!" Hermione cried, tearing spilling over for the second time that day, as she clung onto her old professor, taking in his comfort.

"I know, Hermione, I know," Remus soothed, looking up over her head and towards the two other occupants in the room. "Don't worry about that right now then. Why not go on up to bed, eh? Merlin knows you need some rest, and it's already late."

Hermione sniffed, trying to regain control of her emotions. She hesitated before finally nodding. "Okay," she untangled herself from Remus before giving an admittedly weak and watery smile to the three men as she left, closing the door quietly behind her.

"God, why would Ron turn his back on Harry?! They've been best friends since they first met, they've been through everything together!" Sirius hissed, still eyeing the door in case Hermione came barrelling back into the room in a fit of hysteria, a vague memory of Lily Potter doing just that flitted briefly across his mind.

"I don't know Sirius. Some things that seem not worth noting to ourselves may be noticed by others. The Triwizard Tournament if proof enough for that." Sighing softly, Dumbledore stared at the two young men before him, both aged beyond their given years.

"The main thing that worries me is the order's reaction to the recent events. Most believe that he is guilty," Remus growled softly.

Dumbledore smiled sadly, stroking his beard. "Be calm, Remus, I do believe that Miss Granger has a few tricks up her sleeve. Don't underestimate her, she won't let Mr Potter stay in Azkaban for long." A small smile alighted his features for a brief moment before disappearing. "But I hope for their sakes, and Harry's, that it does not cause too much disruption."

"How is Hermione going to get Harry out?" Remus questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, no offense to Hermione even with all her smarts but, I _have _been in Azkaban and it is near impossible to get out, let alone try to get in as someone other than a prisoner or auror."

Remus flinched slightly at Sirius' words. Guilt ate at him as he thought of how he believed that Sirius was guilty. It was happening all over again, only this time it was Harry and not Sirius who was betrayed.

"How will she get him out?" Sirius continued, not noticing that Remus' thoughts having taken a darker turn.

"If I remember correctly, Miss Granger mentioned Harry being an animagus," Dumbledore replied, smiling when he saw dawning realisation flash over both men's features.

"So Harry is going to do what Sirius did?" Remus whispered, hope flaring up inside him.

"It is only a theory, but I don't think that is her plan, however," Sirius merely nodded at his old headmasters' words while Remus narrowed his eyes and focused them on the wall above the old man head.

-------

_Halliwell Manor - San Fransisco_

Wyatt Halliwell leaned against the open door and sighed in exasperation as he watched his younger brother run around the room like a chicken with his head cut off.

"CHRIS!" He hollered to the brunette. The younger man in question paused for a brief moment, his eyes flickered to Wyatts'.

"What do you want? Can't you see that i'm busy getting ready to meet Bianca?" Chris grabbed a shoe from under his bed and shoved it onto his foot.

"Ah, finally getting laid then, little brother o' mine?" Wyatt smirked, his amusement showing in his eyes as he watched Chris's face flush in embarrassment as he ducked his head and hunted around for his other shoe. Wyatt moved away from the door, closing it behind him. At six foot two', Wyatt towered over his brother's smaller stature of five foot nine'.

"Shut it, she wanted to wait, and, well, then I will wait until she is ready." Picking up his other Doc martin, he looked around the room as if searching for something.

"Woah, be kind to your dear older and, dear I say it, more handsome brother, and please tell me that you have had sex at least once before," Wyatt said as he stared wide-eyed at Chris.

"Yes I have had sex before!" The blush on Chris's face made Wyatt narrow his eyes.

"Oh yeah, with who?"

Chris mumbled something under his breath. Catching the raised eyebrows, he glared before rubbing the back of his neck. "Damien," he ground out.

Wyatt made an 'o' of recognition before a scandalised look crossed his face. "Wait! Isn't _he _the guy who moved to Italy TWO years ago?" The thought of missing out on sex for two whole years after first having it was shocking to the blond. "Dude, what the hell?"

"Unlike _you_, I can survive without fucking everything that moves," Chris snarled, glaring heatedly at his brother even as his cheeks warmed with embarrassment.

"That's a lie! Not _everything _that moves, Chris, honestly. Anyway, stop focusing on me and my accomplishments." Wyatt said, ignoring the snort that came from Chris. "You are a nineteen year old hormonal guy! You should be getting some every other night."

"For the love of everything that has yet to be tainted by you, can we please drop it?! This is not something that I wish to talk to you about!"

"You know, I never knew you would be the 'settle down before true adulthood' type." Wyatt mused, ignoring the incensed look that his little brother now had on his face. "Or that you liked women at all..." He added, grinning as he ducked a pen that was thrown his way, and laughing as he saw the pink in the younger Halliwell's cheeks become more prominent.

"Haha, that's so funny," Chris snarled distractedly,

"Oh come on, Chris! It's nothing to be ashamed about. I'm attracted to guys too, you know."

"I couldn't tell," Chris muttered.

"Well, you have to agree that he did have a pretty good-"

"Ew! Please do NOT finish that sentence! I do not want to be having this conversation with you."

"Aw, why is that my darling 'ittle brother?"

"Hmm, maybe it's because that whenever I tell you something, or you find out about it, the whole family seems to know by the next morning."

"Ah, just making sure that no-one is left in the dark. There is no keeping secrets from the rest of our family."

"Unfortunately..."

Wyatt just grinned at Chris. His flustered brother was hunting about the room.

"looking for this?" He asked innocently, breaking the temporal lull in conversation as he held out a small, black velvet box. Chris growled at his brother before snatching it up.

"Don't you have some random woman to shag, Wyatt?" Chris snapped, irritated.

"Jealous?" Wyatt shot back, the small amount of patience that he had with his brother was finally waning.

"Why are you here?"

"Can't I just come to see my loving baby brother?"

"No. You always have an ulterior motive."

"I feel like I should be offended by that, but I can't bring myself to care at the moment."

Rolling his eyes heavenward, Chris gave his older brother a shaky grin. "Well, you can always wish me luck, Wyatt!" he said, preparing to leave.

"Good luck," Wyatt muttered as he watched his brother orb out the room. Wyatt sighed, throwing himself on Chris' bed. He silently wished that Chris would wait until he completely thought this through. He knew his brother, and he knew that Chris tended to jump into things rather quickly, hardly ever thinking about the consequences. Like marriage for instance, that is a perfect example. Too bad that it's the just the thing that Chris was about to commit himself to.

Truth be told, he didn't like Bianca, and had a firm conviction in his mind that she would break his little brothers' heart. Be it now, or very near in the future. Wyatt just hoped that Chris wouldn't get hurt.

-------

**Our Saviour the new Dark Lord?**

_Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, our saviour, the chosen one; a list of titles given to the nineteen year old murderer. Have we been making it easy for this boy? We have countlessly given our devotion and trust to the Potter man, believing him to be the one to rid us of you-know-who but with murders of the last of his muggle family, is Mr Potter that much different from the Dark Lord himself? Case evidence has given us proof that he had visited his family in a location only known to a select few, Mr Potter being one of them, where he had then proceeded to torture and kill his relatives in cold blood. The bodies...._

"Can you believe this rubbish?" Neville growled, throwing away the paper in disgust.

"Harry would never do anything like that, he has too many Meldins with him," Luna replied, settling herself down next to the angry brunette.

"A What?"

"Meldins...you have a lot too," she smiled softly at Neville. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Meldins," she hummed.

"Uh...yeah...Meldins..." Blinking away his slightly dazed state, he continued. "I mean, how could they write this when they should _know_ that Harry wouldn't do any of this."

"People are scared, they needed someone to blame so they blamed Harry."

"It's not right. It's completely-" Neville was cut off as he suddenly found a pair of soft lips on his.

"I know, but Harry has the Meldins looking out for him, he'll be okay," Luna whispered.

"I hope your right,"

"He will, I saw it."

"Saw it..."

"Yes, the Meldins will help Harry, you'll soon find out."

"Hermione has a plan, I think," Neville said suddenly, leaving Luna to furrow her brows slightly at the slight subject change.

"She'll succeed," Luna hummed, tilting her head to the side.

"Because you saw it?"

"No, silly, because Hermione's smart,"

"...knew that," muttered Neville, wrapping an arm around the blond woman.

"The Mildens will be with her too," she sighed in contentment.

"Of course, love, of course."

"No Meldins for Fudge, though, and none of Harry's is willing to go to him," Luna bit her lip, pondering over her comment.

"Undoubtedly, I could sympathize."

"I just hope that some will go to Ron,"

"That stupid fool?!" Neville cried, turning to face his girlfriend.

"Some of them have been led astray, you cannot blame all of them for the mistakes of few."

"But damn hard to forgive..."

-------

_Unknown Location_

"What news do you have, Lucius?" A cloaked figure purred. The light from various candles around the room flickered omniously.

"My Lord," the blond-haired man started, eyes turned to stare at the ground as he knelt onto the floor. "They have done what you thought they would do. They have sentenced Potter to life in Azkaban. The Weasley's all but turned against them."

"Good, good. I do believe that Potter has a rather...violent reaction to dementors." The figure rose from his seat. "What about the order and the mudblood?"

"The mudblood thinks that he is innocent, my Lord. As for the order, they seem to think he is guilty, apart from Dumbledore and the filthy half-breed."

"To be expected." The 'Lord' turned away from Lucius and stared at a candle by his side. "The mudblood though, shows surprising loyalty, even when faced with evidence to contradict what she believes." Spinning on his heel, the figure pulled away his hood. The face of a snake-like creature unveiled. "She is close to Potter. Almost like a _sister,_" the man laughed.

"Soon it will be time, my Lord."

"Yes. But until then, _Crucio!_" Lucius collapsed onto his side in pain, his screams filled the chamber as his Lord laughed.

* * *

**So how was it? I've started on the other chapters too, I've felt guilty just leaving the story where it was so I took it upon myself to redo it. Some of it hasn't changed, but I have edited quite a bit of this so...please let me know what you think. Maybe click the review button....**

**I have decided to let you choose the pairings for this story but Harry will be paired with a male and NOT Remus or Sirius, as much as I love them I don't want them paired with Harry or Hermione. There will a poll on my account so that you can vote for who you want.**

**Also Voldemort has yet to die so the war is still on and Fudge is still, unfortunately, Minister. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	2. Of cheating and Memories

**I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them.**

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**I'm going to be posting chapters about once a week.**

**Summary: **Harry Potter has been betrayed by some of those he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But when has anything been quiet or Harry? He meets the charmed ones and their children, falls in love and finds out that this is where he belongs. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bring with it the past that he sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/?, Hermione/?**

**Poll up for choosing.**

_

* * *

_

_Bianca's Flat, San Fransisco_

Chris nervously shifted from one foot to the other. Chewing his bottom lip, he fiddled with the small velvet black box in his jacket pocket nervously. He stared at the front door of his girlfriend's flat, knowing that when he went in, his relationship with Bianca would change. His left finger millimetres from the doorbell, hovering over it with a strange feeling of trepidition.

"For goodness sake, you can do this! Just press the damn button!" His muttered voice helped calm him down somewhat. Giving him a bit of control at least. It was something that he could do. That, and the fact that if someone was to see him standing outside in the hall right now with his hand in his pocket and muttering to himself, his fingers twitching by the doorbell, well, they'd probably think he was some raving nutter.

And with that final thought in mind, he took a deep breath and pushed the innocent looking button. He instantly strained his ears to try and hear for any movement from within. Frowning when he didn't, he tried again, yielding the same results.

"She said she would be home tonight," he mused, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He sighed before he looked around him. No-one was coming. _Score one to the raving nutter_, he thought as he snickered. Yup, it was official, he finally had a nervous breakdown. Shaking his head to get back to the situation right now, he closed his eyes, and orbed into the flat.

He opened them to to see that the lights were on low. _Just like Bianca_, Chris thought fondly. The curtains were drawn, and the smell of lavender wafted towards him. Raising an eyebrow, he walked into the kitchen, leaving the living-room, and the warmth that it geld.

"Not like Bianca," Chris murmured, his head tilted to the side as he took in what he saw. There were plates on the counter by the sink. As well as two glasses of wine. Both half empty. Chris wrinkled him nose up in confusion. Who did she have round here?

True, she could have her friends round, probably why she had to cancel on him last night, but damn it this was important! He was going to ask her to marry him. He lent against the wall, going back through his recent conversations with her, checking to see if she had mentioned to him anything that he must have forgotten.

Deep within his thoughts, he didn't at first register a noise that came from one of the rooms. As it continued, it broke the young man, startling him slightly. Alerting him to someone else's presence. He grinned, and slipped down the hall.

"Bianca?" He called, turning his head to check for the noise as he did a quick scan of the bathroom. Not there. Another noise sounded from the door to his right. A moan soon followed.

A cold feeling of dread settled into the pit of his stomach. _No_, he thought. His eyes connected to the white door. Another moan reached his ears, causing him to back up slightly.

"She wouldn't..." Chris told himself. He stood up straighter but glared at his hand as it shook when he reached out for the handle. Holding onto it tightly he heard more noises. Only they were different. One was different, deeper. Just then a sudden cry of obvious pleasure made Chris go rigid.

"Bianca!" A male voice cried out, causing the brunette to loose all colour in his face.

"No," he whispered, his eyes staring at the wood, unseeing. He was hearing things. Bianca, His Bianca, with another man? No, never. And yet it all made sense. Her cancellations, the meetings, the sudden trips. Yes, it was all clear. The distant feeling, the lack of of I love yous. He had always said them, but she would hardly say them back.

A sudden rush of anger flooded his senses. How dare she? Who did she think she was, to make him wait, make him fall in love with her, only to throw it back in his face by cheating on him with another man? But yet even with these thoughts, even with the questions. The pain, betrayal, anger that rolled around inside of him, he couldn't find it in him to open the door. His muscles had all but frozen in place. He bit into his lip. He could hear the rustle of bed sheets, his hearing picking up on the smallest of sounds. How odd, he thought absently to himself, everything seems so much louder now than before. Then, Squaring his shoulders, he forced his hand to move. Slowly he opened the door, and stepped in.

--

_Halliwell Manor_

Wyatt looked up at the grandfather clock by the living-room with impatience. Chris left to propose to Bianca, his three year girlfriend, at seven, it was now nearing half past eleven. Chris had promised to orb back to tell him the news. True, Chris could be, ah, celebrating, but Bianca had wanted to marry before doing anything else. Poor bastard, Wyatt thought, not noticing that Coop had entered the room.

"Hey, Wyatt, Chris not back then I take it?" Wyatt jumped violently when he heard a voice and throwing up the coloured shield around himself without warning. Coop, who had not expected his nephew to act like that, took a step back, holding his hands up in surrender; showing that he meant no harm. "Woah there! Someones a little nervous..and tense," he quipped, eyeing the blue force-field warily, his greying brown hair all mussed.

"Oops?" Wyatt offered, giving his uncle a sheepish grin, trying to calm down his heart as it beat irratically against his chest. "Why are you here, Coop? Mum and dad are asleep," Coop raised an eyebrow at him in amusement.

"What makes you think that I wanted to speak to them?" The older man chuckled at Wyatt's sudden confusion to his visit. "Anyway, I just wanted to know Bianca's answer as much as you do. No doubt neither of you had bothered to inform anyone about this."

"How did you-?" Coop's laughter had cut Wyatt off mid-sentence.

"Wyatt, you do know that i'm a cupid. I can sense these things. That, and the fact that I had overheard you two speaking about it just before Chris was leaving." Wyatt's jaw dropped.

"You...you heard? But that's eavesdropping!" Wyatt cried outraged, feeling a little stupid for not bothering to see if anyone was outside of the bedroom. Eh, it was worth the teasing that he gave Chris at any rate.

"Wyatt, you live in a house with a lot of people popping in and out at all hours of the day. Do you honestly think that someone wouldn't have overheard you?" Wyatt narrowed his eyes at his uncle. He just grinned back.

"You could have announced that you were there," Wyatt grumbled.

"Yes I could have. But then, where's the fun in that?" Coop laughed and the glare he received. "You could also have been a little quieter. I'm surprise no-one else overheard your conversation."

Wyatt was about to fire a comeback when blue orbs materialised right in front of him. As the lights died down, a thoroughly upset Chris stood in the middle of the room. He was lucky that Wyatt was suddenly worried at his current appearance that he didn't throw up his force-field.

"So, Chris, what did sh-" Coop started, a grin already on his face.

"God! What happened?" Wyatt gasped. Coop frowned and moved around Wyatt so he could get a better look at his other nephew.

"Chris, are you okay?" He stepped forward and placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder. Chris shook slightly, his eyes closed as if he was trying to block something out.

"Lil' bro'?" Wyatt whispered with worry as he noticed the tear tracks on Chris's cheeks. He instantly moved forward and wrapped his arms around his brother and held him close. Chris let out a sob, burrowing himself closer. Wyatt and Coop looked at each other over Chris's shoulder.

"She broke his heart," Coop mouthed, his eyes sad. Wyatt closed his eyes briefly, before hugging the boy closer.

"Wyatt," Chris's voice was muffled. Wyatt, letting his brother go, stared at him. "Wyatt," Chris repeated, his voice shook. "Sh-she cheated on me, Wyatt!" Chris wailed. Wyatt and Coop stood there stunned. Blinking a few times, the words finally sunk into their heads. Bianca had cheated on Chris.

"She did what?" Wyatt hissed, Coop's eyes had widened almost comically.

"How-? Why?" Chris just shook his head.

"Tell me," Wyatt urged pulling Chris over to the couch. Coop joined them, sitting on Chris's other side.

"Chris, it's alright, it'll be better when you talk about it." Coop whispered wrapping his arm around his younger nephew. Chris didn't say anything for a while but then he finally nodded.

"Okay," he finally croaked out. He then started to tell them about the cancellation, his trip over there, the apparently empty flat, the noises that he heard. "And when...and when I opened the door..."

_-Flashback-_

_Slowly he opened the door, and stepped in. The sight that had been placed out before him caused his heart to clench tightly in pain. There she was, his -no, not his- Bianca, in the arms of another man. Chris swore that all of the air had been sucked out of the room. His lungs ached from the lack of oxygen and his vision clouded slightly. __The couple on the bed hadn't noticed him entering as they were too wrapped up in the after-glow of sex._

_"Bianca," Chris whispered. His voice surprisingly calm in light of what happened. The bodies on the bed jumped in shock as his voice filled the room. Two pairs of eyes swivelled in his direction, both wide in surprise and dread. Blue and brown eyes widened even more if at all possible at being caught in bed together. As if they thought that he would never find out._

_"Chris, I..." Bianca trailed off as his light green eyes narrowed on her. How could she explain this away? She pulled the covers up around herself more firmly, averting her eyes to the spot above Chris's head._

_Chris tore his eyes away from his girlfriend, and instead focused them on the man in bed with her. His brain working to try to see if he had met him before. The brown hair highlighted with blond streaks had prompted a feeling that he had met the man before, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember who. Strangely the man seemed to know him, and was avoiding his gaze as if ashamed. He should be, but Chris got the feeling that it wasn't about Chris finding out about Bianca._

_"Bianca, I'll pick up my things I've left here tomorrow," Bianca looked back at him, her eyes sad and resigned._

_"Chris, please, I never wanted you to find out about us," she motioned at herself and her partner, "like this. You have to believe me, I never wanted to hurt you."_

_Chris looked at her disbelievingly. He barely controlled the flow of tears, his heart was beating wildly against his chest and he idly wondered if the other two could hear it. She never wanted to hurt him? And yet here she was having sex with some guy. How long has this been going on?_

_"Save it, Bianca," he whispered. "If you never wanted to hurt me, then why do it? Why lie?"_

_"I couldn't. I wanted to tell you, but..." she trailed off, looking at the other man pleadingly. He said nothing as he bowed his head and focus his gaze on the covers intently. "Your just so nice, Chris." She finally continued, "so loving and protective. I just couldn't break up with you."_

_Chris felt the heaviness in one of his pockets. It was the box. Within it was the engagement ring that he was going to use to propose to her. He felt like a complete and utter fool now. She had played him like an idiot._

_"Please, you have to believe-"_

_"I don't have to do anything, Bianca," and with that last parting remark he spun round on his heal and ran out of the room. He quickly orbed away as he distinctly felt his heart break._

_-End of Flashback-_

Coop and Wyatt stared at Chris while he told them his tale, his eyes closed the whole time, like he was reliving it all over again. The youngest man was sandwiched between them, drinking in the comfort that they gave.

"She cheated on you?" Coop's repeated, his voice held an air of disbelief, but when Chris looked up at the man, he knew that it was true.

"I'm so sorry, Chris," Wyatt whispered, pulling his brother even closer to him. Chris only nodded once.

"I'm gonna' go to bed, I'll see you two tomorrow." With that, Chris detached himself and walked sedately out of the room, leaving two worried men watching him leave.

-------

_October 25th Azkaban_

The sound of the waves crashing against rocks were the first thing that met Harry's ears as he slipped back into the wonderful but painful world of consciousness. It was the first time since he had been thrown into Azkaban that he had been lucid. The first time he had awoken, a dementor was outside his cell. Not the first thing you would want to see when you wake up.

He groaned and rolled over onto his back, pain shooting up his left side. He rubbed his arm absently as he stared up at the dirty ceiling. He grinned at the thought of this much filth in the Dursley household. Aunt Petunia would have had a fit. The smile soon slipped off his face however when he remembered that she was now dead.

Shifting slightly, his thoughts took him deeper. He felt like he could never be happy again. It was his fault that they were dead. They weren't even supposed to be in the war. The protection charm had lifted from his home at seventeen, but Voldemort had never gone to attack. Harry still didn't know why, but it didn't matter anymore, they were still dead. The Dursley's still died and he, Harry, couldn't there in time to rescue them. He couldn't save them, he couldn't save the Dursleys or the older Grangers. The Dentists had both been in the middle of fixing Dudley's tooth when the attack happened.

Harry pulled himself out of his morbid thoughts when he felt it. A creeping coldness, seeping in through every part of his body. His breath caught in his throat as his lungs suddenly found themselves struggling to take in oxygen. It felt like ice had wrapped itself around his heart, causing it to beat faster.

Sadness and despair swept through him, momentarily making him forget that his body was fighting against what was happening to it even as his mind registered as to what was causing the drastic change. Dementors. Harry smiled grimly as he shifted, pushing himself up against the wall, trying to put as much space between him and the dementor as possible. He looked through the bars, waiting for the moment to see the huge black, cloak-clad figures to come to his cell. He knew that they were down the hall, feeding off other prisoners until they let their emotionally exhausted mind collapse and mercifully slip into sweet oblivion.

He closed his eyes briefly before he tried to mold himself to the wall. He knew what was coming, and he couldn't do anything about it. He would have to see all those memories that he had shoved into the back of his mind. Things that he had never wanted to remember again.

"Reap what you sow betrayers," Harry whispered to himself, his voice slightly hoarse. A rasping sound made Harry snap his head up. A shadow loomed over him, letting his cell temperature drop several more degrees. guilt and the feeling of being powerless overwhelmed him. Tears sprang up. Voices of the dead screamed out in his mind. Begging, shouting, crying.

His memories of his parents' deaths, Cedric's death, Seamus, Colin and Pavarti dying, Terry Boot screaming as he was held under the cruciatus. Other deaths floated through his mind, taunting him, showing what he had done. What his mistakes had cost him. What Voldemort had taken from him. The betrayal of his friends and family finally came as his trial assaulted him. Memory upon memory flew up, some that Harry couldn't even remember having, and bombarded his consciousness, demanding him to look at what he did.

A small whimper escaped from his cracked lips as he clutched his head in his hands, willing the despair to leave him be. He was tired, so tired, and he knew he wouldn't survive for as long as Sirius had. Hell, he might even lose his sanity by the end of the month.

No...Even his visions from the years passed were forcibly shown. Each and every one that he had. Letting his body slouch in defeat, he felt himself slip back onto the floor, the wall no longer pressed against his back. He wanted to be as far away from the dementors as possible.

A single tear slipped down his dirty cheek as he watched everything that he had seen and lost replay themselves; opening up wounds that were barely healed. Harry silently prayed, even as his mind veinly fought to hold onto the happier memories, that he would soon slip into unconsciousness. Letting this torture be without the flashbacks. Without the pain. With the knowledge that he couldn't help. That he had failed them. Failed them all. _And now I won't be able to save them, _he thought, an overwhelming helplessness hit him.

-------

_Grimwald Place_

Hermione sat at the top of the stairs, listening to the conversation going on in the kitchen. Sirius, Remus and Tonks had invited some of the Weasleys to stay for a while, and some members of the order had dropped by, deciding to try and convince the few who believed in Harry's innocence. She sighed and rested her head against George's legs. The tall young man in question stood up leaning over the railing. His twin brother was next to him, their blue eyes normally bright with mischief were now dark and serious. They had refused to go down and see the rest of the order as many had accused the twins of working with the 'murderer' and they had thought that Hermione herself was under some kind of enchantment.

"That's not the point, Sirius," at the sound of Hestia's voice the three unpon the stairs groaned. "He killed five people, five! And you expect me to back you up on this...this campaign to help set him free?!"

Hermione shook her head, snuggling into Fred slightly when sat down next to her. George planted himself behind the two, his hand on the bushy-haired womans' shoulder.

"This is going to get interesting," he muttered darkly, sharing a look with his younger brother.

"I never thought that she had something against Harry, I thought she always liked him," Hermione told them.

"Ah yes, well-"

"-undoubtedly she did. But only-"

"-because she would have been in-"

"-Remus' good books." Fred and George replied, moving closer to peer between the gaps in the banister.

"I agree with Hestia. He hated the Dursleys and he never had any qualms in saying so. You know what he went through, can you think of a way out for him?" Mr Weasley's voice was the next to reach their ears.

"Family support," Fred growled, sarcasm lacing his voice. Hermione closed her eyes. How must Harry feel, to know that most of the family that he had has turned their back on him?

"He is innocent! You have to know that. He's saved lives, take your daughter for instance, and you too, Arthur! He's not evil, he's as good as anyone can get!" Sirius barked out furiously.

"Hardly! I say that we leave him there! And what about young Hermiones' parents? He killed them too! Who would kill their best friends' parents?" Bill Weasley spoke up next, his deep rumble cut through the room.

"Traitor!" George's hissed from above them. Hermione turned her head and smiled weakly at him.

"It's not his fault, George, he doesn't really know Harry," but even her own defence for the eldest Weasley sounded half-hearted.

"Bollocks," was the only reply she got.

"Bill! How can you possibly think that? Harry has done nothing but help us these past eight years, damn it! And now you believe that Harry would actually do something like this?" Anger was in Tonk's words as she added in her say.

"Remember who saved you and Fleur last year from those deatheaters, and this is how you repay him? By turning your back on him when he needs all of us the most?" Sirius's tone was deadly, outrage clearly visible.

"Sirius, I know that he is your godson bu-" All three occupants on the stairs flinched slightly when they heard the cold laughter coming from the animagus.

"Congratulations! You've finally realised that he is my godson. Wow, Bill, you deserve a medal! No, really, you do."

Fred and George chuckled while Hermione grinned. They heard some coughs coming from the room behind the door.

"Sirius Black! Start acting your age! Your thirty-nine not thirteen. Now, I know that your attached to Harry but you must accept that Harry is guilty. You can't let the fact that he is James' son cloud the truth." The motherly voice of Molly Weasley floated out.

"Sirius is not-"

"-going to-"

"-like that," the twins murmured.

"That is enough, Molly," Remus growled. "You have no right in treating Sirius like this in his own home, you cannot tell him how to act, how to behave or what to believe."

"But honestly, Remus, talk some sense into him, you can't just stand there and defend that murderer!" Bill cried out.

"Who is he talking about?" Fred asked, "he didn't classify who. Sirius or Harry," he mumbled.

"He still thinks Sirius is guilty of something," George added.

"Either way he's going to regret he saying anything," Hermione muttered. "I'm just surprised that Ron's not down there."

"That's going too far, Bill. You and your parents are to keep your opinions to yourselves if you wish to remain here. That goes for you to, Hestia," Remus snarled. Fred, George and Hermione could imagine the werewolf to have his wand out right now. He had become a lot more volatile now as the war dragged on.

"What does it matter to you, Remus?" Bill continued. "If I remember correctly, _you _were one of many who thought that Sirius was guilty and left him in Azkaban. Maybe you are trying to rectify that mistake by believing in a real murderer."

Before anything else could be said, they heard something slam before a loud snarl and the kitchen door banged open, making the three jump up as if electrocuted. Remus, who had nearly forced the door off its hinges, stormed out and shot up the stairs, not giving the three a spare glance. Sirius and Tonks soon followed, their anger reigned in, and they nodded their heads in acknowledgement as they passed. Charlie walked out at a more sedated place. Noticing his two brothers and Hermione above him, he smiled at them grimly.

"You better head on upstairs, mums' cooking up a storm. Poor Dumbledore won't know what hit him," with that, he walked up past them to where his given bedroom was.

"Sounds like some people agreed with us," muttered the twins in unison before dragging Hermione up with them.

"Is it only you two that believes in Harry's innocence out of all the Weasley's?" Hermione whispered furiously, glaring at the door below them.

"No! Charlie also-" George started,

"-Believes in Harry." Fred finished, frowning at the door. "Although I would have thought that-"

"-Mum or Dad would have believed him. Or-"

"-Ron, at least." Fred finished, tightening his grip on the young witch. Hermione sniffed and her back stiffened slightly.

"Yes, well, Ronald was always slow." Hermione growled out, catching the twins by surprise with the amount of venom in her words.

"You still love him, don't you?" George asked softly, running his hand through her bushy mane.

"He betrayed Harry," she told them. "He's been acting differently since Harry was taken away, he's not the Ron that I know...or knew."

-------

_Kitchen - same time_

Leaning against the counter, Remus Lupin nursed a cup of tea between his long callous hands. His amber eyes flickered from one face to another as his lips thinned in annoyance. The man standing to the left and a little in front of him was in the process of a clench and unclench one's fists as he obviously tried to reign in his anger. Long black hair creating a curtain that blocked the man's face from the werewolf, but he could already guess what it looked like.

"That's not the point, Sirius," Hestia Jones sighed wearily.

Remus mentally snorted at the woman. How closed off her mind was, well, Remus could only guess. But by the looks of things, it was not about to change it's mind on the matter on hand. Now, if only he could convince himself that everyone would leave this room relatively unscathed and as healthy as they were when they had walked in.

"He killed five people, five! And you expect me to back you up on this...this campaign to help set him free?!" Hestia continued, drawing herself up.

"I agree with Hestia. He hated the Dursleys and he never had any qualms in saying so. You know what he went through, can you think of a way out for him?" Mr Weasley queried, his expression held one of great reluctance, as if it had pained him to say it out loud.

He is innocent! You have to know that. He's saved lives, take your daughter for instance, and you too, Arthur! He's not evil, he's as good as anyone can get!"

"Hardly! I say that we leave him there! And what about young Hermiones' parents? He killed them too! Who would kill their best friends' parents?" The deep voice of Bill Weasley broke through as he moved to stand next to his father, facing the two men.

"Bill! How can you possibly think that? Harry has done nothing but help us these past eight years, damn it! And now you believe that Harry would actually do something like this?" Tonks spoke angrily, her hair flashing to that of a dark blue.

"Remember who saved you and Fleur last year from those deatheaters, and this is how you repay him? By turning your back on him when he needs all of us the most?" Sirius's tone was deadly and the look on his face spoke volumes.

"Sirius, I know that he is your godson bu-"

Throwing back his head, Sirius laughed coldly, the noise bouncing around the room even as the convict calmed himself down.

"Congratulations! You've finally realised that he is my godson. Wow, Bill, you deserve a medal! No, really, you do."

"Sirius Black! Start acting your age! Your thirty-nine not thirteen. Now, I know that your attached to Harry but you must accept that Harry is guilty. You can't let the fact that he is James' son cloud the truth."

"That is enough, Molly," Remus growled, speaking up for the first time since they had entered the kitchen. "You have no right in treating Sirius like this in his own home, you cannot tell him how to act, how to behave or what to believe."

"But honestly, Remus, talk some sense into him, you can't just stand there and defend that murderer!" Bill cried out as his eyes pleaded with the older man to believe him.

"That's going too far, Bill. You and your parents are to keep your opinions to yourselves if you wish to remain here. That goes for you to, Hestia," Remus snarled furiously, his wand dangling in his hand, pointing down towards the floor. His grip though, was anything but relaxed. His pack was being threatened, the wolf in him was straining to break free from his control, and Remus was half tempted to let his other side rule for a moment.

"What does it matter to you, Remus?" Bill continued. "If I remember correctly, _you _were one of many who thought that Sirius was guilty and left him in Azkaban. Maybe you are trying to rectify that mistake by believing in a real murderer."

That was it. Remus pushed himself off the dirty side, slamming his unfinished tea onto the counter, warm liquid spilling over onto the surface and on his hands. He didn't notice. Snarling angrily at the redhead, Remus barged passed anyone who stood between him and the door, throwing it open so that it hit the wall, he stormed off upstairs. He didn't notice the three other occupants on the stairs as he concentrated on keeping his wolf in control. He couldn't stay in that room any longer lest he snapped and let Moony out.

-------

**Second chapter done. How was it? Please review, the next chapter will be up in about a week.**


	3. Plans, a Skateboard and a Ring

**I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them.**

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**Summary:** Harry Potter has been betrayed by some of those he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But when has anything been quiet or Harry? He meets the charmed ones and their children, falls in love and finds out that this is where he belongs. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bring with it the past that he sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/?, Hermione/?**

**Poll up for choosing.**

**Also why everyone believes in his guilt will be revealed later on in the story, but for now, the chapter!**

* * *

_November 14th - Three Weeks Later - Weasley Wizarding Wheezes_

Hermione walked down Diagon alley, her eyes downcast as she past people on the street hoping that no-one would notice her. She tried to block out the voices that seem to follow her as she passed by.

"Did you hear about that no good Potter boy...?"

"...Killed the poor girl's parents..."

"...Best friend indeed..."

Hermione sped up, finding herself practically running towards the brightly coloured shop that the Weasley twins owned. The sign on the door said 'closed' but the woman had no time. Glancing round to make sure no-one was looking at her, she raised her hand and knocked. Shifting from one foot to the other, she cast her eyes about, taking note that not many people were on the streets, and if they were, they were too busy with reaching their destinations and getting out of the drizzling rain. Knocking on the door a couple more times, she ran her hand through her hair, making it more bushy than normal.

"Alright, alright, Merlin's pants, alright!" The voice of one of the Weasley twins met her ears. The door opened and Fred peered out.

"Hermione? Wha-" Fred was cut off by the little witch as she pushed past him and slammed the door closed. Locking it up again. "Come in, why don't you?" Fred muttered, staring at the brunette, partially stunned and annoyed by her behaviour. "What was it that was so important that you had to practically hammer my door down, anyway?" Hermione just grinned at him, brushing off the dark look he gave her.

"I think I have finally come up with a good and reasonably solid plan to get Harry out of Azkaban!" She chirped, her grin getting wider as Fred's jaw dropped.

"You what? That's great! Come on upstairs, Mione, lets discuss this plan that you have so valiantly concocted!" Hermione made to smack him but Fred ducked away, laughing and heading out back and up the stairs.

"Follow me," he commanded, jogging out back, not looking to see if she was behind him. Slipping round boxes piled with their products and proceeded to climb up the stairs to the twins flat Hermione wondered how they managed to find anything.

"Oy, George, Mione's here!" Fred called as he let the young woman into the flat. Hermione slipped in and raised her eyes at the absolute mess that was called a living-room. Pieces of parchment were scattered all over the floor, various products that have either just been finished making or being modified while dirty plates and cups were on the coffee table.

"Have you ever heard of a cleaning charm?" Hermione asked, scanning the room and wrinkling her nose in mild disgust.

"Oh, i'm wounded, Mione, here we are, gracing you with our charming presence, and all you can say is 'have you ever heard of a cleaning charm?'" Said George, clutching his chest as he walked out of the kitchen, a mock hurt expression on his face. Fred chuckled at his twin's antics while Hermione glared.

"I wouldn't have to had said that it you hadn't insisted on living in a pig sty! Honestly, what would your girlfriends think?" Hermione asked innocently, watching with satisfaction as the twins blushed and sent identical scowls in her direction.

"Your evil, you know that, Granger?" Both men replied. Hermione just grinned at them.

"Anyway, the reason why i'm here is that I think I have found a way to get Harry out of Azkaban and away from here." That caught the attention of the duo in the room.

"Oh? How so, oh dear Hermione?" George asked as Fred moved into the living room and gathered up the plates via his wand, taking Hermione's words for heart.

"Well, you see that the dementors guard the prison, and the only way in and not having your soul practically sucked out is by going in there by the front entrance. They surround the upper half, where the more dangerous are held. Harry is on one of the top floors." She waited until both men nodded before continuing, "Well, as an animagus, I can slip in and find Harry's cell, while, hopefully with the help of my two favourite twins, they float outside by his cell window in their own animagus forms, and wait while I help get Harry and Blow down the wall and hop onto the twins broom with them and fly back to safety." Hermione took a deep breath and waited. She knew her plan had a lot of flaws. One, for example, was the fact that there were hundreds of dementors surrounding the prison and secondly the place was nearly impossible to find. _Nearly_.

"Wait, wait." George stared at Hermione, "So your saying that Yourself, me and Fred have to go to Azkaban, by brooms, and that you're going to use your animagus abilities to slip in and save Harry." At the witch's nod, he continued, "but for this to work, Harry has to be thin enough to slip through the bars. A problem there. It took Sirius twelve years to escape, and his animagus form is a dog, what makes you think Harry could do that too in the span of, how long has it been, ah, three weeks?" Fred nodded his head in agreement, his forehead creased slightly as he frowned.

"Well, yeah, you see, Sirius never thought to escape by his animagus abilities because Voldemort was gone, Pettigrew had disappeared and his best friend and wife had just been killed. That and the fact that he would most probably have been given the Dementors kiss if he was caught again. Which, by the way, he was nearly given. All in all, it's not exactly good motivation for anyone really."

Fred opened his mouth to tell her that Sirius did escape anyway but she held up her hand to stop him.

"He only escaped because he realised Pettigrew was with Ronald, and that Harry was in danger. He had enough strength to help him with that. Oh, and we're going through the wall, remember? So Harry doesn't have to slip through the bars." The three thought about what Hermione said for a moment.

"I got Tonks to give me the co-ordinates to get to Azkaban so it's not impossible to find. Seeing as we know where to look for it."

The twins looked at each other before both nodded their heads in perfect sync.

"We're in!" They chorused, causing Hermione to smile slightly.

"Good, because we're breaking him out tonight."

-------

_Azkaban Prison_

Harry didn't know how long he was asleep for, but he knew that the Dementors had just finished with him. The lingering sadness and guilt clung onto him like a quilt.

_I'm sorry, _he thought as he stared out of the barred window of his cell. Weeks had passed, and his hope of being free had long since gone. He had held on for three days, thinking that someone was going to come and save him from his memories. But so far no-one had come. Everytime a dementor came round, he had often wondered if anyone believed him. Questions swam about in his mind, wondering if he would get out, if he would survive.

Hearing voices calling out in various bouts of insanity had ripped through Harry on his first few nights in Azkaban, causing him to wonder how long it would take until he was like them. But now the sounds just passed on through him, never given a second thought. At first he had listened them. Hearing jumbled words that made his heart skip a beat or two, before starting up again, hitting against his ribcage harder and faster.

It wasn't like that now, though. What they were saying now was different. As he listened to the voices, they grew steadily louder, so that the people in the cells near him started up as whatever caused the prisoners to snap back from their own inner hall passed them by.

"Come here, Little kitty, I won't harm you,"

"Cat! Cat in Azkaban!"

Harry crept forward, his curiosity peaked. He leaped back, however, when the object of the calls slipped into his cell. No, it couldn't be. But, as the cat came closer and landed in a moonlit patch and changed, he realised that someone had finally come to him.

"Harry?" The figure whispered, stepping forward. The voice was so familiar, where had he heard it before? He should remember; the form was something that caused a flicker in his mind. His head hurt, but then again, it always did now.

"Harry? I've come here to get you out."

The figure crouched down in front of him, the blurry face more defined now that it was up close. Something slipped into his hand. they were shaped like a figure of eight, and he realised, with a sudden jolt, that these were glasses. He shakily slipped them on. The face in front of him came into sharp focus.

"Her-Hermione?" His voice cracked, his throat was sore from all the screaming he did whenever he was forced to remember.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, pulling him in a gentle hug. "We're getting you out, Harry. The twins are just outside of your window. They have brooms."

Harry shakily stood with Hermione's help and looked out between the bars. The sight that met him made him smile a little. Just a small tilt of the lips, but it was something, he guessed. With everything that he had been forced to endure, what he was seeing now was heart warming and, for a moment, he could ignore the constant chill that surrounded him. The site that met his dull eyes was something to witness. Two identical red foxes laid across their brooms unsteadily as the floated above and beyond the cell wall. They actually looked a little queezy from Harry's point of view, but maybe that was just him. How could you read if an animal looks ill or not, discarding the fact that they are people to begin with?

"Back up, Harry, I'm going to blast through the wall," Hermione murmured.

Harry followed her instructions, still not believing what was happening to him.

"Bombarda Maximus!" She cried.

A blue light flew from her wand and hit the wall with force. The bricks blew out, and if the broom weren't above the cell and a little way out, they would have been hit with wayward brick shards. As it were, they had transformed back to their respectful selves and sent out two patronus' to keep the descending dementors at bay. Hermione quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the ledge. She passed him over to George, or who he thought was George seeing as he could never really tell the two apart, while Hermione sat behind Fred, wrapping one arm around his waist securely. She cast her own patronus to help them as the Weasley twins flew up, distancing themselves from the prison. The Dementors slipped in around them trying to feed off them but were forced to stay back because of the patronus shields. As they escaped, they distinctly heard bells going off, alerting the guards the breakout and summoning the aurors.

"Shouldn't have made such a big bang," Hermione said, burrowing her head into Fred's shoulder. Harry looked over at her, still slightly dazed, and thought that she looked a little green. But then again that could have been because of the dementors. Evil creatures they were.

-------

_November 15th - Halliwell Manor_

Wyatt sat quietly at the dining room table, just finishing up his breakfast that his mother made. Well, it was much better than his, he couldn't even do toast properly and he loved his flat too much to see it go up in flames. His younger brother has barely come out of his room throughout past three weeks, though, and it was causing everyone to become worried. The rest of the family knew what had happened but Chris refused to let them help him with his problem with Bianca. His parents were going mad with worry and aunt Pheobe has had to cut her visits short because her empathy power keeps picking up on Chris's pain.

His mum and dad were currently sitting at the table with him. Leo was reading the newspaper while Piper cleaned up the plates.

"I wish he would tell us what he did after he went to Bianca's." Piper suddenly said, looking up at Leo.

"He'll tell us when he's ready," Leo supplied, glancing up at the ceiling.

The eldest son frowned slightly. Trying to distinguish if his father's words held a deeper meaning. Shrugging the confusing thought off, he rubbed the back of his neck as he pushed his plate away and stretched. He hardly got any sleep since before three weeks ago, and he doubted that his brother actually slept at all. He heard him crying as he passed by his door last night when he went to search the book of shadows for a demon that he ran into. The thought of his brother suffering didn't sit well with him at all. Wyatt then looked at his parents faces and saw pity and guilt. Guilt that they couldn't protect Chris from the pain that he was now going through. He then resolved to make his parents feel better, and not to blame themselves. He was pulled out of his musings by his aunt Paige orbing in.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted, ruffling up Wyatt's hair, ignoring the half-hearted glare that he shot her.

"How's he holding up?" The three other occupants looked at one another.

"He hasn't come down yet, He's getter better. He knows he can come to me with anything that's bothering him." Piper sighed, and Leo planted a kiss to her forehead.

"Don't worry honey, he'll be okay."

Wyatt snorted, earning a glare from his father, a worried look from his mother and a raised eyebrow from his aunt.

"What? Can I help it if I let out inconvenient snorts at random parts of the day? Or is that banned from the house as well now?"

Glaring at her son, Piper glanced a look over at her sister questioningly. "Anything wrong?"

"No, just came over to see how Chris is doing, and to pick up Henry's skateboard."

"He left it here? I thought he took it with him?"

"Apparently he didn't. He left it when he orbed home and then forgot about it when Henry took him out for a ride in his police car."

"Henry forgets everything," Wyatt commented.

"It's not his fault that he's a little forgetful," Piper said.

"A _little_?" Wyatt muttered, remembering various times his younger cousin had left things and not remembered where he had placed them. Wyatt was thankful that he was not clumsy as well. It would be a disaster if it were. Forgetful _and _clumsy? That would never do for fighting a demon. At least the things that he had lost had a habit of turning up soon after their misplacement. Although they are usually found by someone either stepping on or tripping over them.

"I thought that Henry S. was a work today, Paige," Leo said, snapping Wyatt out of his thoughts.

"No, the crime this week has been down so he took a day off, he's owed that much, anyway."

"Speaking of, I'm going down to the underworld to go vanquish some demons." Wyatt chirped.

"You be careful, now, Wyatt," Piper said, her voice telling them how worried she was.

"Mum, I'm twenty-two not twelve! I can look after myself, I have fought demons on my own before, now, and I'm still living."

"The fact that their has been a lack of demon sightings is what worries me more," Paige told them, grinning slightly at Wyatt's affronded look in spite of the current situation.

"Glad to know that you care about my health, Aunt Paige," Wyatt groused.

"It has been awfully quiet, now that you mention it," Leo added, frowning slightly.

"Quiet is not good," Piper murmured. "It usually means that they're up to something."

"But what exactly?" Paige put in.

"That's why it's a good idea for me to orb down there and check it out." Wyatt supplied as he stood up to leave the table.

"Be careful, we don't know what they are planning," said Piper.

"Yes mum, I promise that I'll be careful," Wyatt said, giving out a long-suffering sigh.

"You better," Piper warned.

Rolling his eyes, Wyatt went to leave the room but tripped over the skateboard that Henry had left behind. Causing him to fly flat on his face. Groaning, he closed his eyes as his family laughed at him.

"Wyatt! You found my son's board!" Paige said, laughing.

"He did it on purpose, I bet you everything that I own that he did it," Wyatt growled, his face flushed in embarassment, silently cursing his little cousin.

"Of course he did, sweetie," Piper teased, grinning while Leo buried his face in his arms.

"No-one could lose a skateboard there! Someone would have found it! How could he have misplaced it?" Wyatt complained, trying to save the remains of his dignity.

"Interesting theory, apart from the fact that _I _did not see it when I orbed in and I am by the doorway," Paige smiled innocently.

"Yeah, well, that's beside the point. You weren't looking at the floor," Wyatt defended.

"I think I would have noticed the skateboard, seeing as it is brightly coloured."

"Humph," glaring at his family, he picked himself up and made his way up to the attic, intent on going to the book of shadows. He carefully stepped over the bright blue and green skateboard and headed up the stairs.

"Don't fall over, now!" Paige called out behind him.

Wyatt growled.

-------

Chris watched as his family joked about for a while before he made his way back upstairs to his bedroom. There he proceeded to throw himself down on his bed and stare up at the ceiling. He only got a couple more hours of sleep that night. It had been just over three weeks since he and Bianca broke up, and it still hurt when he thought about it. The image of Bianca and another man in bed kept flashing up in his mind's eye. He had cried of course, how could he not? He was going to propose to her after all, and instead he found her cheating on him.

He looked over to his desk by the window. A place where his eyes kept going to throughtout the whole morning. A small velvet box sat on it, standing out from the wooden desk as the sun shone through the glass and landed on the dark object. It had mocked him. A symbol of what he could have had.

Growling softly to himself, he flipped over onto his side, facing away from the offending item. He rubbed his hand over his face, as if it could wipe away the memories of that night. No such luck. He didn't know what he was going to do with the ring. Throwing it off of Golden Gate bridge had appealed to him, but so had the thought of getting a demon to throw an energy ball at it. The last idea had been vetoed. Throwing it off the bridge it was then. Now, if only he could find the strength to get out of bed.

He sighed and rolled back over onto his back, keeping his gaze from wondering to the far side of the wall. He could distinctly hear laughing coming from downstairs again. Don't they know that he was up here suffering? There's nothing to laugh about, nothing to be happy about.

_Why?_ That's the one question that he doesn't know the answer to. What did he do to push Bianca away and into another man's arms? Karma, most probably. He is being punished by the elders or something. _Well that sucks,_ he thought bitterly. He should have seen the signs. The distance that grew between himself and Bianca. Maybe then he could have prepared himself for the heartbreak. Whatever it was, he felt like someone had shoved their hand through his chest and ripped his heart out with their bare hands. It hurt so much, he just wanted the pain to go away. He really needed to get rid of that damn ring! The contents had taunted him all the time.

Chris finally dragged himself out of bed and reached over and grabbed the box. His body shaking slightly, he orbed out.

-------

_Grimwald Place_

Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly as he stumbled into the kitchen. He dimly noticed the faces of the Weasley twins, huge grins and eyes wide as if on a sugar high. _Please no! It's too early, _he thought, walking round the table to pour himself some coffee. As he filled his cup up, he could see, in the corner of his eye, the twins practically bouncing in their seats. How could they be so happy this early in the morning? Whatever the reason was, he didn't want to know. Probably testing their products on some unsuspecting house member. Remus took a sip of his drink as he leaned against the counter. The twins watched him, both had their identical grins widening slightly, making the werewolf nervous; not that he would ever admit it.

"Hey, Remus! Have you seen the Daily Prophet this morning?" One of them spoke up while the other brandished the item in question in the air.

"Very interesting-"

"-Read if you-"

"-ask us but what do-"

"-you think?"

Remus raised an eyebrow, inwardly shuddering at the twins sense of what the other was going to say.

"Actually, no I haven't. Anything good in it?" Fred and George shared a look. Remus narrowed his eyes. As he took a sip of his coffee, the twins told him.

"Harry escaped from Azkaban!" They both shouted, laughing as Remus sprayed hot liquid all over the kitchen floor. Remus dropped his cup and snatched the Daily Prophet out of the hands of one of the twins. He unfolded it and the headline struck out at him.

**The Boy-Who-Killed escaped Azkaban!**

_It is said that at 11:00p.m last night, that Harry Potter had broken out of Azkaban. The aurors were alerted to the breakout late last night as the alarm wards were set off. It apparently looks as if someone had helped the young man escape his cell._

_"The wall was blasted through from the inside, we don't know how it happened, but we're doing everything that we can to find him." Head auror, Alaster Moody commented._

_A guard told aurors that he thought he saw someone flying out round the precinct but didn't think anything of it. "I thought it was one of the dementors," he had said._

_Investigations are pending. But the real question is, 'who helped Potter escape?' People have been speculating that Sirius Black, a suspected death eater who had killed twelve muggles, Peter Pettigrew and Mr and Mrs Potter, helped the convicted murderer escape, since he was the only one who has done so before. If so, is Black training Potter to follow in his footsteps? The boy-who-lived, our last hope against he-who-must-not-be-named, turning away from the light and becoming evil. What hope is there for us if we have no-one to save us? Albus Dumbledore, headmaster at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been demanded to leave his post after the fall of Potter._

_"If Dumbledore had been a real headmaster at the school, then Mr Potter would never have fallen into the dark arts. I'm sorry to say that it's too late now." Cornelious Fudge had said. "I believe that he had been helped by Sirius Black, the only other person to escape Azkaban."_

_True? Likely. What would Lily and James Potter say about the actions of their one time friend and their son? I would think that..._

Remus stopped reading at that point, his mind going in overdrive. "Who...how...what?"

The twins laughed. "Surely you can't think that Hermione would-"

"-leave Harry in there-"

"-do you?"

Remus stared at them, slack jawed. "Her-Hermione helped him escape? How?" The two redheads loked at each other before turning back to face Remus.

"With the help of her animagus abilities-"

"-and the help of two very handsome and talented twins!" Remus just continued to stare at them.

"Er...Forge?"

"Yes, Gred?

"I think we broke him."

"Hmm, indeed I think you are correct. Poke him just to make sure."

"Why me? You broke him too!"

"Yes, but need I remind you that I am older?"

"That has nothing to do with it."

Remus' mind unfroze while the twins spoke. "You are NOT going to poke me!"

"Ah, he's not broken after all, Gred."

"Good to know. I don't want to inform Harry about braking him."

"Nor I at that."

Inwardly sighing, Remus tapped the table with his fingers with impatience. "But what about the dementors? Wouldn't you be effected by them, too?" Both men shook their heads.

"Harry, Hermione and _Ron_," at the mention of their youngest brothers' name they both pulled a face, "taught us how to become an animagus." They both replied, smirking. "Said we need it to make a good getaway in case of anything happening. Plus we can sneak away or blend into the background. Quite ingenious really, if you think about it."

Remus nodded dumbly before sitting heavily onto a chair. "Where are they know?" He asked, setting the Prophet down.

"America!" Was the reply.

Remus looked up startled. He was about to answer when the kitchen door opened and Sirius entered, looking disgruntled. He nodded to the twins and Remus absently as he walked over to the counter to pour himself something to drink, much like Remus had previously done. He all but paused when he saw the mess that his best friend had created.

"What happened here?" He asked, staring at the broken cup and spilled coffee that had created a puddle of murky brown.

"My fault, Padfoot, I'm afraid. I'll clean it up in a minute. But first you might want to take a seat." Looking quizzically at his friend, Sirius complied. Remus pulled out his wand and, with a wave, cleaned up the mess. He then performed a silencing spell so no-one could hear them.

"Well, Sirius, Fred and George was about to tell me about how Harry escaped Azkaban last night." Remus waited for Sirius's reaction. He didn't have to wait long.

"WHAT?" He shouted, standing up and knocking over his chair. "How? Where is he? Is he okay? He's not gone crazy has he?" Fred, George and Remus watched Sirius with amusement.

"Calm yourself, Sirius. Here, read this," Remus slid the Daily Prophet over to Sirius. He grabbed it and scanned through the article. When he finished, he threw back his head and laughed. The other three occupants in the room looked at him worriedly, silently wondering if the time in Azkaban that _he _spent in there had effected him. When he finally calmed down, he picked up his chair and sat back down. He met the stares and shrugged.

"What? I think it's highly amusing to think that someone has broken _into _Azkaban. Only a wizard or witch that was powerful could make that much mess," Sirius reasoned.

Everyone grinned and nodded their heads.

"Do you want to know who helped him?" The twins asked, grinning when both men looked at them.

"Hermione made up the plan. And your looking at the other two who flew them out back to safety." Remus and Sirius nearly fell out of their chair in shock.

"You two? You two helped Harry escape?" At their nods, the older men both laughed and reached over to clap them on the back.

"Well, I think it's time for a celebration, don't you?" Sirius asked, making his way over to the cupboard, intent on getting himself some firewhisky.

"It's in the morning!" Remus exclaimed.

"So? Harry's not in Azkaban anymore! Anyway, it's never too early,"

"Sirius..." the werewolf started.

"Remus..." Sirius imitated, rolling his eyes, much to the amusement of the twins.

"You are not going to drink this early! Later we can have a proper celebration, but not right now."

"Spoil sport."

"Just doing my job."

"What? Being a boring old fart?"

"You are older than me, Padfoot, so I don't know who _you_ are calling an 'old fart'."

"Haha, really funny."

"I thought so," Remus smiled, snatching the bottle from the shelf and sliding it in his robes. "I'm going to go to the library," he said, shooting his friend one last warning look before leaving.

"Aww, Sirius has been a bad doggy," the twins chimed.

"Bad doggy? Me?" Sirius asked pouting.

"You know, one would think-" Fred started,

"-that you would have disagreed with-" continued George,

"-the term 'bad doggy' but then again-"

"-your not exactly sane now then, are you?"

"Ah, I never said I was," Sirius replied, grinning at their raised eyebrows. "Anyway, Moony may think that he's stopped me, but I have another bottle hidden down here," Sirius smirked, pulling out a second bottle from behind the pots and pans at the back of the cupboard.

"We won't tell if you share," was the answer he got. Sirius chuckled before grabbing three glasses and filled them all up generously.

--

_Airport - Night before_

Harry came out of the toilets in his new clean clothes. His raven coloured hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, taming it slightly. It had continuously grown without being cut since before he went to Azkaban. He could still hardly believe that he was free. Well, he was still a convict, but at least he was a free convict. The clothes that one of the twins had given him were a bit baggy. Malnutrition could do that to anyone, and seeing as he was tall, the food just wasn't enough to sustain him.

Harry looked around him, trying to find Hermione, Fred and George. The twins had flown them to the airport, readying them to leave for somewhere in America. They weren't actually specific, seeing as they were intent on getting away after Hermione set off the alarm and couldn't inform him. Surprisingly enough, it had been George's idea to send them there. San Fransisco, incidentally. Slipping through the crowd, Harry kept his head down. If anybody from the wizarding world found him he would caught and he knew that Fudge and just about everyone else would push for him to be sentenced to the Dementors kiss, not to mention that Hermione and the twins will be thrown into Azkaban for freeing a 'murderer'. Oh, how he hated fate right then.

"James! James, over here!"

Harry whipped his head round quickly, scanning the face of people around him. He spotted Hermione waving her arms around her wildly, staring right at him. Making a beeline for her, he crammed into one of the small seats next to her. Hermione grinned, her eyes taking in his look. She opened up her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Fred and George had joined them, their hair covered by two identical hats. Two identical green bowler hats.

"James? Seriously? That's his name?" George asked, incredulous.

"That's going to throw suspicion off of him? By naming him after his dad?" Fred added.

"Wow, _That's _original, Hermione."

"Yeah, why not just put a big green and pink neon sign above him stating-"

"-'Hey, my name is actually Harry Potter-"

"-a convicted murderer-"

-just escaped from Azkaban-"

"-and classified as highly dangerous-"

"-please catch me!'" George stated deadpanned, pulling his hat over his eyes slightly.

"Oh, both of you shut up. Don't you think that I don't know that?" Hermione snapped.

"Well-"

"That was a rhetorical question! Anyway, yes I know that it is obvious and that's why it will be harder for them to find him."

"The curly haired witch says what now?"

"Honestly! They will instantly look for the name 'Harry Potter' before they go and try to find Harry under any alias that they could think of. Starting with James."

"Hermione?" Harry questioned, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"There are...well...a lot of people called James, and it's unlikely that they will find Harry under any of them. You don't really think that we will remain looking like this, do you?"

At the three sheepish looks given to her, Hermione gave a sigh.

"I have an excuse to why I'm so clueless." Harry muttered.

"His middle name is James, plus his father was called James, and I thought his might like to be called it. There is little chance of them finding Harry. I highly doubt that they will hunt down as many people being called James as they possibly could with only a vague notion that you would actually be called it. You could have gone down as any name you actually wish and they would think that you would have thought that this name was too obvious too."

"So why can't he give himself a name, then?" George asked, eyeing the people around them.

"It will be easier to remember it this way, less chance of slipping up and calling him a different name by accident."

Harry stared at her, touched that she would think that much into a new name for him. Well, it was Hermione, she did tend to over analyse things.

"Don't worry, I like it. What about you? You going to change your name?"

Fred and George grinned, "this will take awhile," they chorused.

Hermione sniffed, before turning back to Harry. "I have decided to change it to Mia. See? Picked it out beforehand!"

The boys grinned, even Harry managed a weak smile.

"Well, we'd better go-"

"-tell Sirius and Remus that you've escaped-"

"-and that your okay, and tell them where you are. Don't want them to-"

"-worry, you know. Oh, this is going to be so much-"

"-fun! I can't wait to see the-"

"-look on Ron's face when he finds out-"

"-that your out of prison!" Fred and George finished together, their grins growing even bigger on their faces. Hermione and Harry just looked back and forth between the two of them.

"I always found that twin telepathy thing a little creepy," Hermione muttered to Harry. The twins laughed while Harry just raised an eyebrow in response.

"At least you can tell us apart! Not like Ha-James here," George told her, smirking at man in question.

"See you guys soon, hopefully!" They both called over their shoulders as they walked away.

"Well, we better get ready for the flight then, James," Hermione commented, getting up off the hard seats. Harry followed, picking up the rucksack that was lying on the floor by their feet.

"Well, here we go," he muttered, following his best friend as the speaker announced to them that their plane was ready to board.

* * *

**In the next chapter, Harry and Hermione will be written in their new names, James and Mia, just so you know. Anyway, how is this going so far?**

* * *


	4. A Handful of Accusations and Two Songs

**I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them.**

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**Summary:** Harry Potter has been betrayed by some of those he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But when has anything been quiet or Harry? He meets the charmed ones and their children, falls in love and finds out that this is where he belongs. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bring with it the past that he sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/?, Hermione/? - Find out at the end of the chapter...and no peeking!**

**I had posted this now because I need to focus on my other AS exams, I have already done Psychology and I have just done my English exam so now I need to revise for my others. I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can - In that thought, I decided to make this chapter as long as I could.**

_November 15th Flat in San Fransisco_

James looked around the small flat with interest. The door had opened up to a small living-room. A sofa sat to the left, facing a small television that was pressed against the wall. To the right of the living-room was the Kitchen, a small island before counters lined the wall below the window. A cooker, fridge and microwave was also there. Stools surrounded the island, no table was present as far as he could see. He could see three doors beyond the the living area. One was obviously the bathroom, and the other two were the bedrooms.

His best friend watched him as he studied their flat.

"I know it's not much, but i've been a bit busy with, you know, breaking you out of Azkaban and everything." Mia commented, trying to gauge James' reaction.

He threw her a smile, "which room do I take, then?" He asked, causing Mia to grin at him in relief.

"The one furthest away, if that's alright?" James nodded his head, and walked to the room, thanking his lucky stars that he had Mia in his life.

Like an older sister, he mused, as he came to the door. upon entering, his eyes roved around his new bedroom, trying to take everything in at once. The walls were decked out in a light green colour while the carpet was pale blue. A desk was placed over to the opposite side of the room, facing away from the window. His bed laid out in front of him. The quilt and pillows in red. Odd choice of colours, but he wasn't complaining. He liked it.

"I didn't know if you would like it," Mia told him as she slipped into the room.

"I love it, thank you," he told her. Everything was light here, no stone walls, no screaming or mutterings, no bad memories and no dementors.

"I know it's not like your home and Grimwald place-"

"No, but I understand, and I appreciate it." James cut her off, pulling her into a hug.

-------

_Golden Gate Bridge_

He sat on top of the bridge. His feet dangling over the side. His eyes were closed as his fingers were rolling around thesmall diamond ring. It was gold, with red gems circling around half the side. It was in no way cheap, but he didn't want to sell it, he wanted to dispose of it, like closure. He couldn't stand being in the house anymore, either. His parents suffocating him, his brother being extra cheerful, creepy if you think about it, and treating him like he was a glass doll! His aunts and uncles weren't much better, the only two people who hadn't treated him differently were Kathleen and Lucy, his younger cousins. He was so in thought that he didn't notice someone orbing behind him. But what he did notice was that the person sat down beside him. Chris opened his eyes and scowled at the figure next to him.

"What do you want, Wyatt? Can't you see that I'm busy?" His brother raised an eyebrow, and lent back on his elbows, his feet in the same position as Chris.

"You know, Chris, you're really starting to piss me off," he commented lightly, eyeing the ring in Chris's hand.

The younger man's eyebrows shot into his hairline, looking shocked.

"I mean, yeah, Bianca cheated on you, I know. She broke your heart and it's only started to heal, but come on, man! We miss you! I know how you feel man," the eldest Halliwell son stared at the sky, not looking at his baby brother.

"Has anyone ever cheated on you, Wyatt? Didn't you ever have your heart broken by someone you completely loved and saw your future with?" Anger raged within Chris's mind, fighting back the urge to hit his brother, or push him over the side.

Wyatt opened his mouth to answer but Chris cut him off, "it was a rhetorical question, Wyatt! Just leave me alone, haven't you got something better to do?" Both brothers glared at one another.

"I walked in on Bianca! I saw her in the arms of another man, not you, Wyatt. You don't even know what I'm going through so don't just sit there and pretend like you do!" Chris shouted. Wyatt's frayed reins on his temper snapped.

"Do you think that your the only one who's ever been hurt by love? God, Chris! Open your eyes, you bloody idiot!" Wyatt took a deep breath before ploughing on, not giving Chris a chance to speak. It was his turn. "I may not be the expert on giving advice and helping people through things like this, but I _do _know what you're going through, so stop acting like a prat and accuse me of not knowing." Chris sat there stunned as Wyatt glared at his hands.

"Mum and aunt Phoebehave started to run around the place like chickens with their heads cut off, Dad, Uncle Coop and Henry and Aunt Paige are all worried about you. Our cousins are all unhappy because you are! Jeez, Mum, Dad, Paige and Phoebe and I have been in your shoes, and yet you sit there like you created heartache! Get off your pedestal Chris, and come join us down here on earthbecause what you're feeling, everyone in their life at one point has felt it too!" With that being said, Wyatt orbed off, leaving a very shocked, guilty and puzzled Chris behind.

-------

_Halliwell Manor_

After leaving a somewhat thunderstruck Chris on Golden Gate bridge, Wyatt had orbed back to the manor. The attic to be precise. His Aunt Phoebe was flipping through the Book of Shadows, not noticing that her nephew had orbed in. Well, up until he stepped forward. She instantly picked up on his raging emotions.

"Wyatt! What on earth...you okay?" She moved away from the book and rushed over to him. Her brown hair swishing behind her, reminding him of a horse he once rode when he was younger...well, before he fell off. Never much liked them after that.

"I'm okay, just went to see Chris, that's all." Wyatt realised too late that he shouldn't have said that. Oh well.

"What do you mean? Your emotions seem to be balancing on a tightrope! He's okay isn't he? Of course he is, you wouldn't be here if he weren't. Well, what happened?" Phoebe paused for breath, studying Wyatt intently. The young man in question blinked a few times, still trying to process all of what the middle sister had said.

"Chris is okay, fine even. Me? I'm great! Never better," at Phoebe's look, Wyatt resigned himself to fate and told her what happened. "...I mean, honestly, you married the source of all evil, Mum dated a Warlock and Aunt Paige had her then boyfriend, Glenn I think, possessed. Chris just acts like he's the only one who's ever suffered, you know?" Phoebe just smiled sadly.

"He's hurting right now, Wyatt. He's lashing out at anything or anyone. When Cole became the source of all evil, I chose him over everything else. I loved him, and in a way, I still do, even after all these years." Phoebe paused, shifting to a more relaxing position on the couch that they had both moved to when Wyatt started talking about Chris.

"I then realised that I had to either leave Cole and abandon my marriage, let me remind you that I was pregnant at the time, and go back to my sisters. Or I could forget about them and be with my then husband and the little baby that we could have had." Wyatt nodded for her to continue when she paused, none of the charmed ones have ever talked much about their past before he was born, only the highlights version.

"I chose my sisters, obviously, and we vanquished Cole...sort of. Of course my baby didn't like that, and because Paige was the one who, in the baby's terms 'screwed everything up', took out my pain and attacked her. I even remember once when Cole wasn't the source, I became a banshee and Cole went to save me." Phoebe smiled at the memory sadly.

"He saved me. He told me that he loved me, and my heart couldn't take it." The room was quiet before Pheobe spoke again, "what i'm trying to say is that Chris is using his anger to cover up his pain. He loves Bianca and he can't blame the source for taking her away, that she was evil. He only has the knowledge that she cheated on him with another man and she wasn't possessed and wasn't a demon out to ruin lives. He is struggling to accept what's happening. Just let him have his say, and just be there for him. No matter on how hard he tries to push you away, just hold on tighter."

Wyatt sat back and absorbed what his Aunt had just told him. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he pushed away the anger he felt towards his brother, the pain his Aunt must have felt to not only lose her husband but her baby as well, and lastly he pushed away his own memories. Memories which he didn't want to remember. _Being hurt by those you love must be a family curse, _Wyatt thought humorlessly.

-------

_James' and Mia's Flat_

Mia left her brothers' room and went to sit on her bed in her own. The interior was much the same apart from the fact that her walls were yellow and the carpet was white. She set her own rucksack on her bed and unpacked her stuff. She paused when she lifted out her photo album. Smiling slightly, she opened the red covered album and chuckled as she looked down at the photo. It was of her seventh year of Hogwarts. She remembered when Ron went a little camera crazy and took so many pictures that it rivaled Colin's collection. 'For our memories, so we can look back in years to come and laugh at ourselves!' were Ron's excuse for shoving that damn camera in everyones faces. This was the first one that he had taken and she remembered it clearly.

_-Flashback-_

_"Harry! You put me down this instant!" A sixteen year old Hermione screamed as Harry slung her over his shoulder._

_"What was that, Hermione? I didn't quite catch it!" Harry laughed, spinning them around in a circle._

_"Harry James Potter! I swear if you don't put me down i'll kill you in the slowest most painful way possible!" She screeched, clinging onto the tall raven haired boy._

_Ron cackled at her scandalised face and grabbed the camera from her bag. "Smile for the camera, Mione!"_

_Harry grinned at the redhead, posing in front of his best friend before he ran over to the lake and jumped in, Hermione shouting threats at him as he went before her voice cut off mid-sentence. Laughing, Ron ran up to the side of the lake, the camera taking a photo as Hermione came up spluttering, floundering around in the water as she tried to regain some of her dignity; although the attachment of weeds in her hair and soaking clothes made her attempt futile. Ron was on the ground howling with laughter, camera in hand and temporarily forgotten now that he got a good look at the brunette. His laughter attracted the attention from other students. Harry swam around her, just out of her reach in case she swung at him, He obviously still remembered the third year incident with Malfoy, and didn't want to have a broken nose._

_Hermione, upon seeing the smug raven haired Gryffindor, shot towards him like a bullet so suddenly that even with Harry's seeker skills didn't save him from the brunette witch's wrath. She landed on him and dunked his head under the water. Ron watched with amusement and held up his camera. "Smile Mione, Harry, and say Giant Squid!" Ron told her, as he snapped the shot, only to squeak and turn tail when he saw both of his best friends charging at him soaking wet with twin smirks on their faces._

_-End Flashback-_

It was one of her most favourable memories, and one she intended to keep. No matter how much Ron had hurt her, she still loved him, and seeing the photos and remembering her time at Hogwarts and after, it just hurt. She needed to get rid of these morbid thoughts, she decided as she closed the album and set it down on the desk.

Walking out into the wall she nearly collided withJames. "Whoa!" James gasped as Mia's elbow connected with his side. Mia winced and apologized, which he just waved off. "I wanted to see you, Mia, about something." The girl nodded for him to continue when he paused, encouraging him. "I mean, shouldn't we change our look or something? Because I think that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to walk outside in broad daylight as Harry Potter, Escapee of Azkaban now then, can we?"

Mia nodded her head in agreement, silently chiding herself in forgetting that part. "Yeah, okay. We have to change our hair colour and style firstly and adopt a different type of personality." She mused, not adding the eye colour or height, knowing that it was James' only thing he was proud of. Same height as his father, eye colour belonging to his mother, Mia couldn't see him changing that.

James and Mia went to the bathroom where they both studied each others'appearance with a critical eye.

"I think you'd looknice as a brunette, with highlights of a tinted red. Hmm, yes, I think that will do." James stared at her wordlessly, fingering his raven locks. "You can keep it at that length, though, doesn't lookas messy when it is shoulder length. It only held the 'Potter' trademarkhair when short." She commented absently, studying his hair. "Yes, I think that will go nicely," and with a flick of her wand and several words, James' hair changed colour.

The young man watched sadly as his black hair changed to a light brown, the colour of red streaking through it lightly, but noticeably. Mia then took off his glasses and commanded him to sit on the toilet seat.

"Contacts, James." She elaborated as he clumsily found where he was meant to go. He let Mia put them on, shuddering slightly in discomfort at having fingers placing a cold and foreign object on his eyes.

Blinking several times to get used to them, he looked back into the mirror. His emerald eyes widened slightly as he took in his new look. Little was changed but the differences between his old self and the new was was startling. Instead of the black, Potter trademark messy hair it was now brown, red highlighted and long, flowing down to his shoulders, flicking ever so slightly at the end. His eyes looked even brighter without the glasses framing them, making them look unnaturally green and bright. Tearing himself away from his reflection, he realised that Mia had changed her looks too. Her hair was no longer curly and brown but was short, black and straight, not a curl to be seen. And, like him, she kept her eyes and height.

"Well, I guess this looks okay, we do look slightly different. You more than me, but that cannot be helped. Now, onto our personalities." James looked at her horrified. The glint in her eye warning him that he wasn't going to like it.

"Uh..."

"I think that we should go out, get used to our new looks and of where we live. What do you think?" She questioned as she shooed the still afraid James out of the bathroom.

"Uh..don't you think we should settle in first? You know with all the jet-lag?" James asked nervously.

Mia looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. James let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, tomorrow, then. There's this place called P3 that I want to try out, looks pretty interesting." And with that she walked back into her bedroom to rest, leaving a startled James behind, wondering where his plan to escape her personality make-over backfired.

-------

_Grimwald Place_

The order meeting was held that night discussing the matter of, yet again, Harry Potter. Sirius thought idly if they had many meetings with his name repeatedly cropping up. Probably not, seeing as the Order had no use after Voldermort's defeat. But now, seeing the looks on everyones faces as Dumbledore told them about Harry's escape was true, he realised just how many people _wanted _him in Azkaban.

"Albus, you saying the boy escaped?" Arthur piped up, his voice aroused many brooding order members. Dumbledore just smiled merrily, eyes twinkling.

"Yes, that's exactly what i'm saying, Arthur. I'm shocked that you didn't know about it beforehand." Sirius smirked, unknowingly copying Snape who sat on the other side of the table.

"I had my day off today," Arthur mumbled, looking down at the cup of tea he nursed in his hands.

"Quite. Well, i'm glad we finally cleared up the fact that Arthur wasn't working like he usually does today. But now we have to address this catastrophe!" Moody spoke up, his moving eye swivelling madly around in it's socket. Sirius shuddered, as did Tonks and Remus, who were sitting opposite him.

"Catastrophe? Why we think-"

"-it's brilliant that he's-"

"-escaped. Seeing as he was-"

"-innocent in the first-"

"-place." The twins told the people at the table. Ron threw daggers at the twins, while Molly went to scold them.

"The twins are right. I've been in Azkaban for twelve years and let me tell you that it's no picnic." Sirius tried and succeeded to divert the attention of the redheaded matriarch from her two identical sons. They both threw him a grateful look as even at twenty-one their mother continued to treat them like children

"You were innocent, Sirius! Harry isn't! He murdered the rest of his family and Hermione's in cold blood, how can you sit there and defend him?"

Remus and Tonks cringed away. Now _that _was not the right thing to say to Sirius Black. He was fiercely loyal to anyone who he sees as his family and he wouldn't stand for anyone speaking ill of them. Especially if it was anything to do with his godson.

"I know that I was innocent, Molly," Sirius started in a low voice, "seeing as I knew that little fact about myself since I was thrown into that hell-hole. I claimed my innocence but no-one ever believed in me." Here Remus blushed and looked down at the table's surface. "But I forgave them," Sirius added, having caught his best friend's movements. "And if I must remind you, Hermione believed that he didn't do it either."

"Her parents were murdered by Vol-Vold-" Hestia Jones stuttered to say before Sirius broke through.

"-oh stuff it! Her parents were murdered by Voldermort and not Harry and when you can get that through your skull of yours, you'll feel terrible for not believing in his innocence."

Charlie nodded in agreement, mirroring his younger brothers. Ron, on the other hand, started to fume.

"What did he do to Hermione?" Ginny asked, her eyes were bloodshot and were rimmed with dark shadows, showing everyone that she had barely slept since the trial.

Ron stood up and glared at Sirius. "She's disappeared. More or less likely that Potter had kidnapped her to finish off what he had star-" Ron was cut off mid-speech as Fred's fist came in contact with Ron's face.

"Shut your mouth! Hermione is perfectly safe you poor excuse of a Weasley!" Fred shouted, barely being kept back by George, although it looked like he wasn't trying too hard and seemed to want to hit Ron much like Fred had done. Sirius always knew the twins were close to Hermione, saw her as a little sister and they also saw Harry as a little brother and that got them into his good books seeing as Harry only ever wanted a family.

"Never speak about our brother **ever **hurting our sister like that again! You got it?" Fred snarled, finally managing to break free of his brothers' grasp and went to leap across the table to pummel his brother to the ground. It was Sirius who held him back this time, and was much more successful.

A shower of sparks suddenly shot out of Dumbledore's wand accompanied by a large bang.

"Have I got everyones attention? Good," the old man sat down again, waiting until everyone followed suit. Ron held a cloth to his nose as he did so; courtesy of his hovering mother.

"Now, we were talking about young Harry's escape. I know that the order is torn between those who believe in him and those who don't," Dumbledore raised his voice over those who started to speak, "and I must press the fact that no-one here helped Harry in escaping." Sirius swore he saw the headmaster's eyes stay on the twins for a split second longer than that of everybody else's.

Sirius grinned as he saw both men duck their heads slightly, hiding the sly smirks that had slipped onto their faces. Moody, on the other-hand, didn't listen to Dumbledore's words, and instead addressed everyone in the room.

"He must of had help from someone! He couldn't get out any other way." Murmurs rippled throughout the order, with Remus and Sirius both throwing looks at one another. The twins didn't look worried, on the contrary, they looked challenging.

"Hello? Anybody ever heard of the famous Sirius Black who broke out six years ago?"

"Sirius, this is no time for your silly jokes," Molly scolded, earning a raised eyebrow and a smirk in return.

"Oh? And who do you think broke him out? Maybe Snape did it just to spite you lot. Wouldn't be the first time!" Fred told the crowd, ignoring the small by-play.

Sirius watched in barely controlled pleasure as Snape shot up out of the chair and glared at the Weasley twins in anger.

"I would never break Potter out of Azkaban! I may believe in his innocence but i'm not stupid-" Sirius snorted. "-But maybe," Snape continued, his eyes on Sirius, "the real culprit is the one who has escaped Azkaban before." He finished in a drawl, earning Sirius looks of suspicion and puzzlement.

"Hey! What is this? 'Pick on Padfoot day'? I've already had enough surprises sneaking up on me today." A raised eyebrow from Dumbledore pulled him back on track, "and i'm not thick enough to go back to that place of nightmares! What do you take me for?" Sirius growled, not realising that at some point in his tirade that he had stood up.

"Do you want me to make a list for you, mutt?" Snape sneered.

Sirius tensed and opened his mouth to make a comeback but Kingsley spoke, "now, gentlemen, calm down and sit back in your seats. We're here to discuss Mr Potter's escape and not to point any fingers." Both men in question reluctantly agreed and sat back down, shooting each other glares.

"It's just puzzling Black, that you would leave your godson there, even though he is innocent, to face all those horrid memories." Snape said in a bored tone, "tell me, what would Potter senior think about all this?"

With a snarl Sirius made to throw himself at the greasy-haired man but before he could, Dumbledore threw up a barrier, separating the two.

"That is quite enough," Dumbledore commanded, his voice striking the pair, making them feel like children disappointing their parents.

"What about Hermione?" Ginny, who had been quiet throughout the fight finally joined in again. "You don't think she helped him, do you? I mean, she could have, she is smart enough." The bitterness towards the end was barely detectable but Sirius picked it up.

The youngest Weasley still harboured feelings for the green-eyed boy, but it would all be one-sided now. He knew that his godson was attracted to her, but he never loved her. He may have thought himself to be, but Sirius saw that there only ever was a great deal of affection, nothing else. Sirius shook his head sadly, the girl was adamant that it was the curly headed witch's fault.

Everyone looked at each other, thinking the same thing, _did Hermione Granger break The-Boy-Who-Killed out? _They'd be right, but Remus stamped on all their thoughts entertaining that idea out.

"Why would she? She's grieving and I don't think she'd want to venture too close to dementors as they would force her to relive the deaths of her parents. No, I don't believe that Hermione would do that."

Tonks took his hand in hers and smiled at him warmly. The metamorphosis knew that Remus was lying, both he and Sirius told her what the twins told them, not that she was surprised. Remus shifted uncomfortably at her touch, only ever used to them from Sirius, Harry and Hermione.

"But where is she, then?" Ginny argued, daring Remus to continue to fight with her.

"Maybe she took time away so that she could deal with the loss and grieve in peace." Remus shot Molly a look when he said 'peace'. Merlin knew that Molly had repeatedly hunted the poor girl down and forced her to take comfort in her. Like she would ever do that. It was like hugging an octopus when it had all it's suckers stuck to you. Near impossible to get off.

"Yes, but she..." Sirius and Remus both tuned Molly's voice out, they knew it was going to be a long night.

_-------_

_November 16th - Underworld_

Wyatt dodged an energy ball that was hurled at him. His younger brother was just picking himself off of the ground.

"Wyatt, what you said yesterday about-" Chris was cut off as he jumped out of the was of another energy ball. "I mean, I didn't realize that you-"

Wyatt knocked Chris out of the way as a demon made a swipe at him.

"Fight now, talk later," Wyatt growled as he threw a potion at the demon, causing him to shriek in pain and explode. More shimmered in.

"Great, just bloody great," he muttered, climbing off of his brother and hauling him to his feet.

As the demons threw their energy balls at them, Wyatt held out his hand, palm up, and sent them flying back towards their owners. Each hit their mark and they, too, exploded. Chris made a turned to the demon nearest to him and held his palm up to them, before closing his fingers, and ball them up. The demon started choking and clawed at it's throat. Chris threw his potion at it and he disappeared in screams and fire.

"I didn't mean to insinuate that you've never been in that situation before, Wyatt. I was angry. And...and that i'm sorry."

Wyatt paused in his demon vanquishing and stared at his brother for a moment. He was still smarting from his little brothers' words, but he could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"Look, it's okay, Chris, forget about it." He told him before turning back to the demons and vanquishing the rest of them.

"Who was she?" Chris suddenly asked as he joined his brother by the rock.

The ashes of the demons still smoking slightly. Wyatt started slightly, before he turned to face his brother.

"Who?" He asked.

Chris raised an eyebrow, "the girl who broke your heart."

Wyatt shifted, not hearing his brother as he scanned for more demons.

"Who broke your heart, Wyatt?" The quick change in direction startled Wyatt for a moment before he sighed.

"Not she, _he_," Wyatt muttered.

Chris made an 'o' with his mouth, staring at his brother. "Well, who was _he _then?"

"There was this one guy who I liked back at university. It was a friend's party, and I met him there. He was a year older than me. I was turning twenty at the time, it was his final year there." Wyatt's eyes glazed over as he remembered. His voice sounding nostalgic. "We really hit it off, and we started dating. This went on for about a year. That's why I declined any blind dates planned by Aunt Phoebe and Mum."

Chris nodded, remembering their frustration with his brother for blowing their help off. "I remember, they weren't too happy about that, mum even thought that you gave up sex."

Wyatt laughed. "No, I obviously didn't give up sex. Anyway, when it was the end of the school year, I asked him about us." Wyatt became quiet, he blinked a few times, "when I asked him, he told me that, while he did enjoy my company, he didn't think that there could ever be anything more. The guy was moving to Canada to start up his own business or something. I didn't know what to think, and I asked him if he ever even liked me." Wyatt had to clear his throat here, "he said no."

Chris stared at his brother, feeling guilty and angry with himself. He had shouted at Wyatt yesterday about him knowing nothing about how he felt, when in actual fact, he did.

-------

_That night - P3_

When Mia told him yesterday that they were going to a place called P3, he didn't think it would be like this. He thought it would be a bar with what one could barely call a dance area, remembering where Mia took him the last time when they went out. He remembered Ron's reaction well and-NO! He won't think about that traitor! He felt Mia pull him up to the bouncer. A big, scary looking bouncer. With a lot of muscles. She talked to him for a moment, showing him their I.D's as he looked at the two suspiciously before he let them through. _Well, this is going to be interesting._

James slipped into a dark room. The dance floor alight with various colours and the music loud and humming in his ears. He followed Mia down to the bar, careful to avoid the many bodies that surrounded them. They found themselves at the counter and Mia ordered them both Vodkas. James wrinkled his nose but said nothing. The barman caught this and chuckled lightly.

"So, James, what do you think?" Mia shouted, her voice barely heard over the music.

James nodded his head. It was Karaoke night, he thought absently. Not noticing that Mia had followed his line of vision and saw the sign above the stage and people singing. A wicked smile lit up her features.

"New personalities!" She reminded him, throwing James off guard and caused him to choke on his drink.

Mia pounded him on the back lightly, careful since he was still healing from his time in Azkaban.

"What?" He hollered, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He saw a glint in her eyes that sent off warning bells in his head.

"We'll sing!" She cried, pulling him over and through the dance floor. James struggled against her -when did she get this strong?- and tried to twist away, but people jostled him and caused him to move closer to his fate.

"Bugger," he muttered, as they stood off to the side, looking at the young woman who held a sheet, Valarie her tag said. Mia was given a pen and looked at the songs available.

"What song should we sing, James?" She asked him,

"No bloody way am I singing!" He told her, getting a smack over the head for his trouble.

"Language," she scolded him. "I'll sing 'Lies' by The Saturdays." She jotted that down onto the sheet before handing it to James.

"You know, when did you ever do anything so...not you?" James asked her.

"I'm not Hermione anymore, James." She told him, keeping an eye on Valarie. "Now pick a song! I'm singing one, and so should you!"

James muttered something about Azkaban and that he had suffered an irreparable voice crack. Mia heard him and glared.

"You're not Harry anymore," she chided, and pushed the sheet closer to him.

"Okay, okay. Um...'Gives you Hell' by The All-American Rejects?" He wrote it down and passed it back to the woman. Glaring all the while at his 'friend'.

"There. Happy?"

Mia laughed, "ecstatic! Personality make-over is going well, don't you think? Although I miss reading all the time."

James shook his head and wrapped an arm around her, listening to the song that was playing. "You can still read."

He was surprised that he hasn't run out of here yet. He half-expected that someone was going to recognize him and shout out to everyone that he was Harry Potter. He wouldn't go back to Azkaban, and he'll make damn sure that Mia wouldn't neither. The nightmares haunt him whenever he closed his eyes, but when he was awake, they were more bearable. Although singing in front of a crowd of people was a sure way of drawing attention on himself and her. But, he reminded himself, he didn't look like The-Boy-Who-Lived-And-Supposedly-Killed anymore thanks to Mia and her quick thinking before they left. She had covered up the scar by some tricky spell work and charms. It was still there, but invisible to the eye.

He had, in a state of revenge, drew Mia onto the dance floor, knowing full well that she wasn't all that good. He was right. She had knocked into various people and caused someone to spill their drink on their partner. It was like Azkaban had never happened. Harry Potter went to Azkaban, not James Plack. Another thought occurred to him as he twirled Mia round, how did she get those I'Ds? Better not ask, in case she goes off on one of her lectures. She may be more outgoing, but she was still Hermione underneath Mia, even if she wasn't the bossy know-it-all that he had first met when he had started Hogwarts.

The songs passed on through the night, and James was getting decidedly nervous. All too soon it was Mia's turn. "Good luck," he whispered into her ear. She gave him a nervous smile before she climbed up on-stage. "Hey, my name's Mia Croft and i'm going to sing 'Lies' by The Saturdays", cheers went up and Mia blushed, James was one of the loudest to cheer for her as he stood by the Valarie girl. Who, he noted, was eyeing him in appreciation. Flushing, he looked back up at his sister.

_"Battered sore and high on hurt  
Out of line and out of words  
Lost for love and lost for air  
That is how you leave me here  
But no, no longer (no, no longer)  
I am getting stronger (getting stronger)"_

James grinned at her, she smiled at him, and she sung out stronger than before, given the confident boost by her best friend. It was times like these that helped James push away the shadows that Azkaban had given him.

_"All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies  
No more listening to no more words  
No more second hand tries  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies"  
_

Everyone danced to the song, Mia's voice was beautiful. James felt special, knowing that she was his friend, hell, an older sister; yes he admitted that she was an _older _sister and not his little sister. She was still someone who James could take care and look after.

_"I would give the sun for you  
Everything I had belonged to you  
All my tears and all my joy  
that´s how much I love you boy  
But no, no longer (no, no longer)  
I am getting stronger (getting stronger)"_

Out of the corner of his eye, James saw a pretty young woman looking at the dancers wistfully. James, struck by a sudden, and fool proof, idea walked over to her.

"Want to dance?" He asked her, holding his hand out. She looked at him, her blue eyes wide. She nodded hesitantly and let James lead her onto the dance floor

_"All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies  
No more listening to no more words  
No more second hand tries  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies"_

James spun her around before pulling her back towards him, moving around people with ease. Those years of being a seeker actually paid off. The woman's brown hair flew around her as she danced. She was pretty good, even if she was smaller than anyone he had ever danced with.

_"So now forget about  
All I ever promised you  
I am getting out  
Spin your lying web alone  
Spin the wheel of lies on someone new Someone new_

Slipping past other bodies, James led her back to their original spot, dipping her back before pulling her flush against his body, his hands moving to her hips.

_All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies (lies)  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies  
No more listening to no more words  
No more second hand tries  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies_

_All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies (lies)  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies  
No more listening to no more words  
No more second hand tries  
All you ever told me (all you ever told me)  
All you ever told me are lies"_

James led the petite woman off of the dance floor, even as his name was called. "Looks like it's my turn to sing." He told her, as she looked at him quizzically. She smiled when she heard that and thanked him for the dance. James watched her leave before quickly going over to the stage. He passed Mia on the way, taking in her shaking posture.

"Nerve wracking," she told him when she cause him giving her a worried look. "Now go sing!" She laughed when he paled. Even the lighting couldn't have hidden that.

-------

Wyatt clapped along with everyone as the beautiful young woman, Mia, finished her song. His parents came back to their table, both sporting goofy smiles. His aunts and uncles not much better.

"She's a great singer, you have to admit." His mother defended, catching his raised eyebrows. "Don't you think, Chris?"

"Yeah...great," he replied.

"What about you Wyatt?" Leo asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I totally agree with Chris," Wyatt said, eyes flickering to the stage where the woman had walked off.

"Looks like he's going to sing now," Henry said as a tall man walked on-stage.

"No, really?"

"Shut it, Wyatt," Henry muttered. Paige just gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, my name is James Plack, I'm going to sing 'Breakeven' by The Script." Claps were heard as the music started up.

"Let's see how good he is, then," Wyatt said thoughtfully.

"He's not bad looking either," Chris voiced, his head ducked slightly as he looked through his lashes at the singing teen on-stage. Luckily only Wyatt heard his little brothers' comment.

"Really? Well, Well, Chris..." Wyatt trailed off grinning, ignoring the strange and uncomfortable fleeting feeling that passed through him at his brother's words.

"Shut it, you, I can have an opinion if I wish too, the girl on-stage before was beautiful, too," Chris snapped. Before Wyatt could reply, James had started singing.

_"I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing  
Just prayin' to a god that I don't believe in  
Cos I got time while she got freedom  
Cos when a heart breaks no it don't break even_

His voice was amazing. Wyatt had heard nothing like it before. He looked over to see his family were, too, staring at the man. His dad, though, looked slightly shocked and seemed like he recognized the man from somewhere. Chris had his eyes wide, making Wyatt chuckle quietly, silently agreeing with his brother; the young man was certainly handsome.

_Her best days will be some of my worst  
She finally met a man that's gonna put her first  
While I'm wide awake she's no trouble sleeping  
Cos when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven... even... no_

_What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you,  
And what am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up that you're ok  
I'm falling to pieces, yeah,  
I'm falling to pieces_

As Wyatt watched the man, Leo took time to study him. His old friend had lost his charge from back in England. Harry Potter was the name of the young man. There was a 'debate' on who got him. Well, more of a full on argument on who got to look out for him. A lot of whitelighters wanted the young hero. The whitelighter in question wasn't to mess with the youth's life until he had his trust. He had told Leo what had happened before he lost his sensing of the man. But was it him? His eyes looked similar, the posture, the height.

_They say bad things happen for a reason  
But no wise words gonna stop the bleeding  
Cos she's moved on while I'm still grieving  
And when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven even... no_

_What am I gonna to do when the best part of me was always you,  
And what am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up that you're ok  
I'm falling to pieces, yeah,  
I'm falling to pieces, yeah,  
I'm falling to pieces  
(One still in love while the other ones leaving)  
I'm falling to pieces  
(Cos when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven)_

Coop and Phoebe both frowned slightly as they felt the emotions coming from the singer. He was obviously singing for someone. Someone who he had loved and had most probably broken his heart. It was a sad thought.

_Oh you got his heart and my heart and none of the pain  
You took your suitcase, I took the blame.  
Now I'm try'na make sense of what little remains ooh  
Cos you left me with no love and no love to my name._

_I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing  
Just prayin' to a god that I don't believe in  
Cos I got time while she got freedom  
Cos when a heart breaks no it don't break  
No it don't break  
No it don't break even no_

Chris closed his eyes and let the voice wash over him. It had a soothing quality to it, even as it sung out a sad song. It relaxed him, pushing away the thoughts and feeling about his break-up with Bianca to the back of his mind.

_What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you and  
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up that you're ok  
(Oh glad your okay now)  
I'm falling to pieces yeah  
(Oh I'm glad your okay)  
I'm falling to pieces yeah  
(One still in love while the other ones leaving)  
I'm falling to pieces  
(Cos when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven)_

_Oh it don't break even no  
Oh it don't break even no  
Oh it don't break even no_

Everyone cheered and clapped as the young man finished the song. He grinned at the crowd as he made his way off-stage, just like the woman before him, disappearing within the sea of bodies.

"I know him," Leo suddenly said, looking at the boy wide-eyed. "He's my friend's charge! He told me to keep an eye out for him when he went missing!" Everyone turned to stare at Leo.

"Told me to pass this onto you to look and see if you could track him. He's nineteen, though, not twenty-one." Piper looked shocked and angry as she took the small picture from her husband's hand.

"How did he get in?" She cried, looking down at the photo. "You sure it's him? Doesn't look like him."

Leo shrgged his shoulders as he glanced over to Wyatt. "What do you think, son? You think it could be him?"

"Absolutely no idea. He could be, or he could not."

"We need to go back to the manor. I'll grab the surveillance tape and we can compare the two people. But I don't know Leo, I think your grasping at straws here." Piper paused, and when she didn't get an answer, looked up at her husband.

When she saw the dazed look on his face, she followed his line of sight and saw Wyatt. Her son had watched as the young man walked into the crowd. Frowning at her son, she gave a glance to Chris who was also scanning the many people in the room near to where the teenager had disappeared from.

"We need to go home, Chris, Dad's found something that's interesting." Wyatt told him suddenly, shooting him an apologetic look as he did so.

He nodded and stood up. He saw his mother walking off to the office with his father in tow. "Manor it is," he muttered, looking through the crowd in vein for the two singers. He didn't understand what he was feeling, it was all confusing, and slightly scary.

* * *

**The results of the poll:**

**Harry/Wyatt 14**

**Harry/Chris 8**

**Hermione/Chris 8**

**Hermione/Other 4**

**Hermione/Wyatt 3**

**Harry/Other 1**

**To the reviews: To those who have asked, no this is not a Harry/Hermione romance, I have stated that this is going to be slash with Harry as the main pairing for that. I have recieved messages from reviewers who want the two to be together. Please read the top where it states that it is a slash. Why Harry was betrayed the way he was will become clear in later chapters. Also, yes, Dumbledore would only have control over Harry's vaults when he was put into Azkaban because Sirius, who is still believed to be a convict, cannot look over them until he is free.**

**Before I forget, to those who wanted a Chris/Harry pairing I might, _might, _do a story on those two, we'll have to see but first I have to focus on this fic.**

**Reviews make me happy...**


	5. Meetings, Freedom and Wunters

**I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them.**

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**Summary:** Harry Potter has been betrayed by some of those he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But when has anything been quiet or Harry? He meets the charmed ones and their children, falls in love and finds out that this is where he belongs. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bring with it the past that he sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/Wyatt, Hermione/Chris**

* * *

_Halliwell Manor_

Chis watched as his mother turned on the surveillance tape. The Halliwells and Mathews sat around the television, Wyatt especially close, waiting to see if Leo was right. Scanning the small group for his father, Chris wanted to ask about the photo. He saw him up by Coop, staring at Wyatt with the weirdest expression on his face. Shrugging it off, he sat back down next to Paige, thinking it would be pointless to ask for it anyway, he would see it soon enough.

"Leo, I doubt it's him. P3 was dark and the lights was all different, and the kid up there singing doesn't look anything like kid in the photo. Just because he has the same eye colour means nothing. A lot of people have green eyes. How could you even tell what eye colour he had anyway?"

Leo shook his head. "A lot of people have green eyes, yes, but not that shade of emerald. I couldn't actually _see _if it was that colour, but just call it whitelighter instincts."

Chris raised an eyebrow, how different can a green eye colour be? Apparently his mother thought the same if the frown on her face was anything to go by, but neither commented on it. Instead Piper turned on the video and hit play. Instantly music boomed out, and Coop was quick to dart forward and turn down the volume.

"Well now I'm deaf," Henry commented, rubbing his ear as he glared at the TV darkly. Paige smacked his arm as Piper ignored him and paused the screen, using the controller to zoom in on the figure.

"Thank God for today's technology!" Phoebe exclaimed, snatching the picture from her brother in law's hand.

Holding it up against the video shot, the Halliwells compared the two young men.

Chris squinted at the stilled man on-stage, the lights casting an eerie glow on his eyes. That was when he was instantly struck by the eye colour. Both appeared to be the same. The glasses over-shadowed the eyes a bit, but you could tell by the shape. The hair was obviously different, though. The one in the photograph had messy black hair that was cut short while the man on the television had brown hair highlighted red and went just past his shoulders; although you could hardly call it neat. The height looked about the same if the picture was bigger, but you could tell by the telephone poll the young man was standing against, and the way they both held themselves were uncanny.

"Did you say that his whitelighter lost him? How can you lose a charge? How can it be that he can't sense him?" Paige asked, squinting her eyes. "And look! He doesn't have a scar while the one in the picture does!"

It was true, but Leo just stood up and faced the ceiling. "Jake! Jake get down here, I think I've found something!" Everyone looked at the ex-whitelighter, making him shift uncomfortably.

"Leo-" Piper was cut off by someone orbing in.

"Leo! You've found him?" A Blond-haired man in about his late twenties was standing in their living room.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck and pointed to the screen. "Looks like him, but he's gone under some changes. The aura felt the same though."

Chris narrowed his eyes, what was his dad talking about? The man -Jake- stared at the television then at the picture.

"Could be, I had expected him to have changed his looks. Well, being on the run and everything, I didn't think that he would keep his normal-"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up. On the run? Who is this guy? What did he do?" Paige rested her hand on her husband's shoulder, calming him down.

"He escaped Azkaban, but he was innocent," Jake told them, but seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, turned to Leo with a disapproving look. "You did tell them about the wizarding world, didn't you Leo?"

The man in question had the decency to blush as he looked away.

"Leo...what's he on about?" Pheobe asked her brother in law, Chris flinched at the anger underlining her words.

"Well..." Leo sat down and told him what he knew, trying to ignore Jake as he stood beside him, giving him disapproving looks.

"Years ago, a young wizard named Tom Riddle turned dark, I dont mean that he dabbled in some magic that was viewed as smething he shouldn't have done but I mean dark as in black magic."

"Wizard? Wha-Leo, I thought Wizards were near enough extinct?" Phoebe asked.

"There are three types of Wizardry. First is us. Wiccans or Witches. Second is what we faced when Phoebe became the Source's wife and the third is what Harry and his companion are. A Wizard and a Witch. They use wands to cast spells and they do not have any natural powers, or, if they do, would be very rare."

"Okay, so there are another society of Witches and Wizards that can do just about anything short of destroying the world," Paige surmised.

"Not destroy the world," Leo corrected, frowning.

"Huh, yeah, uh Leo? When were you actually going to tell us all of this?" Piper asked sweetly.

Leo paled and looked down at his hands. "I didn't get round to it?"

"You weren't going to tell us!" She screeched, throwing up her hands as she glared angrily at her husband.

"Uh..."

"I cannot believe you, Leo! Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't allowed. The Elders wanted me to withhold it from you. They thought it would be best."

"Oh, and why did they think that?"

"I didn't actually ask," he mumbled.

"You didn't ask," Piper said softly.

Wyatt, knowing that they could be arguing for hours, jumped in quickly. "So, Riddle?"

Leo started and gave his eldest son a thankful look. "He held a high dislike for witches and wizards that came from non-magical families or...muggles, I believe they are called."

Chris tilted his head to the side, frowning. "Non-magical families? How did they get their powers then if no-one in their family had any?" His aunt tensed up next to him and she too had a look of deep concentration on her face.

"We don't know. We think that at one point in their family, there had been a witch or wizard who had magic, but it must not have been past down in generation. They could of had children who were...whats the term? Ah, squib! So-"

"Squib? Whats a squib?" Coop asked, voicing every-ones question.

Sighing in annoyance Leo answered them. "A squib is someone who was born with one or both magical parents but holds no active magic in them themselves. Anyway, this Mr Riddle decided to recruit people who were half-blood and those who were pure blooded -the former meaning with one parent who was from a non-magical family and one who had magical families going back generations. The latter is when the whole line holds magic, and that there is no 'muggle' or muggle-born in the generations that have passed." Jake nodded to Leo's explanation.

"What's a Muggle?" Wyatt asked, looking at his father.

Jake answered the blond haired man before Leo had a chance to respond, "a muggle is someone who has no magic. A Muggle-born is someone who can do magic but come from non-magical backgrounds." Wyatt nodded, acknowledging what he had said.

"So let me get this straight," Phoebe started, looking at Jake and then Leo. "This Riddle guy went evil and started to, as you say, recruit Witches and Wizards. Recruit for what, exactly?" Everyone turned to the whitelighter and Leo.

"He recruited them so that he could wipe out everyone who is non-magical. He wanted to rule the wizarding world. By that time he had named himself Voldemort."

At the name many people in the room snorted at the poor choice.

"Flight of Death? Oh, you gotta' be kidding me!" Wyatt chuckled.

Leo ignored their reactions and continued, as if he wasn't rudely interrupted. "He turned a lot of people to his way of thinking. But not all were persuaded to join the cause. Seeing as witches and wizards who had non-magical parents were also murdered. He and his followers, called deatheaters-"

"-how fitting," Piper muttered, but when she caught her husband's exasperated gaze, she had the decency to look sheepish.

"As I was saying, the deatheaters would torture and kill families. Wipe them out. Everyone in the home dead. Parents and children alike wouldn't be spared. He's, I don't know how to describe him, but I can safely say that he is as bad, if not worse, than the source."

Now _that _caused a paradox of emotions to fly throughout the room. Paige gasped and Henry, who didn't really get the demon rank thing, even after the decades spent with the charmed ones, wrapped his arm around his wife protectively. Coop's eyes went wide, Pheobe and Piper had lost all colour from their faces and Wyatt nearly fell off of his seat in shock. Chris tensed and stared at his father as if he was playing some April fools joke on them. Only it was not April and his father would never joke about anything like this.

"But he's a wizard!" Piper cried out, shocked.

"Yes, but...I don't know how much we can tell you. We only know a certain amount. You'd be more informed if we spoke with Ablus Dumbledore." Jake told her, ignoring the look of disbelief on the ex-whitelighter's face. "He can tell you more about him."

"How did we not know about this?" Paige asked, shooting nervous looks towards her two sisters.

"You were not told of this because it has yet to effect anyone outside of England or that of the wizarding world. Which is completely different to ours. But he was defeated for ten years before he started to try to come back again."

Chris frowned. What was Jake on about? Try to come back? How and from what? Chris looked up at the whitelighter, absently noting that everyone else par Leo, had confused looked about them.

"But...if he was defeated, how could have come back?" It was Leo who had answered his youngest son's question.

"We don't know. It would be better if you've heard it from Dumbledore. He knows more than us." Chris nodded, as did several others.

"How was he defeated?" Wyatt pondered, looking at his father.

"By...by a baby." It only took a few moments for the statement to sink in, and when it did, people started to talk all at once.

"A baby how-?"

"-impossible! If you say that Volde whats-his-name is as dark as-"

"-poor little thing! why-"

"**Quiet!**" Everyone surprisingly did at the command, shocked more than anything else.

They all turned to Leo and Jake, the latter having shouted out.

"Now, if you want answers, you're going to have to listen to us and _not _interrupt. No matter how much you want to. Got that?"

They all nodded and shifted round to get more comfortable. Piper and Paige did look mutinous, though.

"Anyway, the baby defeated Voldemort about eighteen years ago. His name was Harry Potter. The young man who is my charge incidentally. His parents were murdered when he was one years old, in 1981. His dad, James, tried to protect him and his mother, but was killed by the killing curse, a curse that, when cast, will instantly kill any living thing it touches. Lily had taken her son and tried to protect him too. But she was killed, during this, though, her love and protection was cast upon the young boy, and when Voldermort shot the curse at Harry, it rebounded off and hit the caster instead. Leaving Mr Potter with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead."

Piper had wrapped her arms around herself, tears swelling in her eyes. No child should have had to suffer that.

"Voldermort had then tried to hunt Harry down since his first year at Hogwarts, the school that teaches magic, since he was just eleven, trying to find anything that could give him back a body." Jake stopped and watched as everyone processed this, his eyes darting from one room occupant to the next.

"Voldermort came back to power about five years ago," Leo concluded, finishing for Jake.

"No-one should be put through that! No parents. What happened after that?" Phoebe asked, looking at Jake.

"It doesn't matter, really. He lived with some relatives and didn't know of his magical heritage until he was eleven and got invited to go to the school."

"And this kid that sang last night was Harry Potter? An escaped murderer?" Henry asked again, frowning at the still figure on the television screen.

"He didn't kill anyone, he was set up. He was then placed into Azkaban, the prison surrounded by dementors-"

"What's a Demen-Dementor?" Wyatt asked, finally speaking up. Jake looked annoyed by being cut off, but answered non the less.

"They are dark creatures. Draining away every good memory, happy feeling, and leaving a person only with pain and self-loathing. They make you face your worst memories and make you re-live them over and over again." Jake paused and waited for anyone to comment, when no-one did, he continued, "Mr. Potter escaped by a good friend of his, I believe. I had watched over him through-out his time there, but I couldn't help him. I was forbidden to by the elders. I watched as a Miss Granger freed him and was helped by Messrs Weasley and Weasley -twins- who are very powerful Wizards when they are together. But soon after that I had lost his presence. I know that he was not dead, I could sense that much but I cannot find him. It is like he dampened his magical signature."

Chris stood up and picked up the picture from where his Aunt had dropped it earlier. "You said that there was a girl who accompanied him. We didn't see anyone with him."

Piper's lips thinned and thought over what her son said. She rewound the video and they watched it.

"There!" Coop exclaimed and Piper paused the tape. As the girl had left the stage, she passed the young man named James nee Harry. They had both talked to one another, as they walked by.

"I still don't think that they are the ones who you're looking for," Piper told them, shaking her head. "They don't look anything alike apart from their eyes! You should also take into account the lightening of the club lights."

Leo and Jake looked at one another before nodding their head in silent agreement.

"I have something of Mr. Potter's, a rope necklace. It's a rune stone, one for luck and protection. It was very dear to him. If this is my charge, then we need to find him."

The older Halliwells went to study the necklace while Chris dashed off to find the map and scrying crystal.

"If he or someone stopped you from finding him, what makes you think we can? We don't even know if it is this boy!" Piper cried, running a hand through her hair. "And why didn't you come and get our help from him beforehand?"

Jake sighed, rubbing his forehead, trying to dispel the headache that threatened to erupt. "Because this type of magic is different. If he is protecting himself like he is from me, then we need as much of his personnel as we can. We can use the necklace, the power of three. I think that will be enough but we also need something else, I fear..."

Chris walked back into the room, both the map and crystal in his hand. He laid it out on the coffee table, giving Phoebe the crystal while he opened the map out to show San Fransisco. Every other occupant in the room surrounded him, all exept Piper who continued to study the young man and woman on the TV screen, with Leo's arms wrapped around her waist.

The necklace was wrapped around the crystal. Pheobe hovered over the map and swung the scrying crystal around San Fransisco. It had started to focus more on one area, but then it would shift and swing aimlessly before picking up the pull.

"You know, we're going to end up going to this random man's house, or the woman's because we don't know if they live together, and knock on the door to only discover that they are not Harry Potter and Herminny Granger." Paige just rolled her eyes.

"Thank you Mrs. Optimistic, and it's Hermione, not Herminny." Piper went to speak when the crystal suddenly dropped to a location on the map.

"Here we go..." Jake stated, before orbing out.

"Where's he going? Doesn't he know that it's about half twelve?" Paige asked, turning to face Leo.

"He's not going to see him, he'll find a way to get to know Harry, or James, or whoever he goes by."

"You know, I kinda' agree with Piper on this one," Henry started, looking down at the map, "I bet he gets to know this guy, and finds out that he isn't who he think he is."

Wyatt and Chris exchanged looks, both silently communicating with their eyes. They too held doubts.

-------

_November 17 - James' Flat_

James woke up to the light of the sun hitting his face.

"Urgh.." he mumbled, turning over and pulling the blanket over his head.

The sound of Mia clanging pots about in the kitchen didn't help much with his half-hearted attempts to try and slip back into sleep. Groaning and muttering about annoying witches, he climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom, trying to ignore the smell of food wafting down the hall.

Stepping out and walking down the hall, he listened to Mia hum something from Foo Fighters. Eyebrows raised, he slipped into the kitchen and was welcomed to the site of pancakes and toast.

"I was going to wake you up soon, seeing as you slept late into the morning yesterday." Mia commented, setting down her book which she was reading onto the counter.

"Yeah, well, Mia?" She looked up and tilted her head.

"Yes?" She quickly filled their plates and sat down, facing him. James blinked before joining her.

"I felt something last night, something was trying to pass the shields that protect us from being found. I think it got past."

Mia nodded her head, a serious expression on her face. "I felt it, too. Since I placed it on us, I felt someone try to get past it numerous times, but never have they gotten past it. It didn't feel like normal magic either. More...I don't know how to describe it, more focused and controlled." James stabbed at his pancake, pondering over what she said. "Don't worry, I strengthened it so nothing should get past it again."

James allowed himself o relax slightly and started to eat, keeping an eye on Mia all the while.

"Well, I'm off!" Mia cried as she grabbed her purse after setting the now clean dishes down. James looked up from his orange juice, looking confused.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

"Oh _honestly, _I'm going out to explore! I've heard they've got very good books, you can come if you want." James shuddered.

"Books? Me? No thanks, but I won't pass up the time to get to know the neighborhood." He sighed, "Not that Bryant street holds anything.." He trailed off before dashing off behind Mia. "I don't have any money."

Mia shook her head, "I have mine, changed it to dollars, from Mum and Dad, don't worry, you can use mine. And I won't take no for an answer, Mr Plack!" James opened and closed his mouth a few times before nodding dumbly and followed Mia out and onto the streets, praying that no-one wold notice them.

-------

_China Town_

"Do you really think that the guy singing last night was the one Jake was searching for?" Wyatt asked for what seemed like the tenth times in half the amount of minutes.

"Wyatt, for the last time, _I don't know! _Focus, we need to collect some things for the potion mom is planning on making."

Wyatt looked mutinous but kept his mouth shut.

"I don't know why we have to make a potion to vanquish this thing! Why can't we just use a spell i'll never know," muttered Chris, looking over the ingredients that they needed.

"Mom wanted us to not just rely on spells, she says we need to learn how to make potions in case our spells fail. We sometimes need both to vanquish a higher level demon anyway," Wyatt, overhearing Chris, spoke up.

"Whatever," Chris grumbled before he crashed into someone, taking them down with him.

"Ow!" A cry came from underneath his body.

Scrambling up and off the person quickly he held out his hand and looked down onto who he had fallen over, trying to ignore Wyatt's laughter from behind him. What he saw made him pause in shock. It was the girl who sang at the club the other night. Still shocked by the sudden realisation, he didn't react at all when the girl took his hand and instead he just held it limply.

"Um...excuse me? Can you help me up, or are you just going to stand there holding my hand all day?" the young woman bit out, still smarting from the fall she had just taken.

"Oh! Sorry," now Wyatt was laughing even harder and people around them were starting to stare.

_Great, just great, _Chris thought, pulling up the black-haired woman.

"I'm sorry about that. I wasn't looking at where I was going."

"It's alright, I should have moved out of the way," She told him brushing herself off.

Chris took this as a chance to study her. Her short black hair was spiked at the ends and she wore a pair of faded blue jeans with a white spaghetti top. Chris found himself staring at her top and when he pulled his eyes away, embarrassed, he caught hers when she looked at him and he noted that they were a warm chocolate brown. Chris suddenly blushed when he realised that she caught him staring at her.

"Well, if you excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be," she spoke out, clutching a bag filled by what he could only guess would be books.

He hadn't even notice that before. He watched as she walked away, puzzled at the thought that she should be with that James -or was it Harry?- guy. Maybe his mom and uncle were right, they did have the wrong man. But they did have the Charmed Ones searching for him with the scryingcrystal, but with the guy's necklace...it was all very confusing, and with Wyatt still laughing at him, it was starting to become downright frustrating.

"Stop laughing at me you stupid idiot," he growled, stalking down the street, trying ignoring his older brother.

"Don't blame me, I wasn't the one to crash into that woman in the first place," Wyatt retaliated.

"It was an accident!" Chris defended.

"Of course it was."

Chris grumbled before stalking off, leaving Wyatt to try and catch up with his fast pace.

-------

_Grimwald Place_

It had been about four days since Harry escaped from Azkaban and the wizarding world was hunting for signs of both him and Hermione, not knowing that they won't be able to find either one. George hoped that they had thought up a disguise, seeing as his twit of a brother was trying to hound both of them down. He honestly couldn't see his brother anymore, all he can see is a jealous, angry, greedy man who's taken upon himself to bring his ex best friend back to Azkaban where he would most likely be subjected to the kiss.

"...Ronnikins upset..."

George stopped his ponderous thoughts when he heard the voice of his twin brother. Slowing down his pace, he crept down the hallway to library, the door ajar for the voices to filter through.

"I bet you had something to do with this!" Ron's voice reached George's ears, and he frowned.

Pushing open the library door a little more, Heaven forbid him if anyone saw him listening in, what would they think if they found a Weasley twin even near a book? Well, strike Fred.

"Oh, so now your accusing me of breaking Harry out of Azkaban?"

There was movement before Fred continued, his voice further away. "Newsflash lil' brother o' mine, how could I have helped him? Not thick enough, we are not an animagus, as you were there when we failed to transform, and we don't know a powerful enough spell to do that."

George bit back a laugh. They did help Harry escape, they were both an animagus, thanks to Hermione who taught them in her spare time -in secret of course, and they do know a spell strong enough, in fact they were the ones who suggested that spell! But wait, what was Ron getting at with his twin?

"I could make you drink Veritaserum and then we'll see that i'm right!"

"Oh and on what grounds do you have that will allow you to force me to drink that stuff?" Fred's voice was hard and cold, not suited for that of a prankster.

"Sounds like someone has something to hide," Ron's voice matched that of Fred's, only his was tinged slightly with malice.

George thought it was the best time to intervene. Stepping into the dark room, he sought out his two brothers. Fred was standing up, hovering over Ron, who was sitting up on the desk as if he didn't have a care in the world, only the stiffness of his back hinted that his discomfort and anger towards the other man.

"What's going on, guys?" He asked, trying to think up a way to steer his youngest brother's attention away from his accusations towards Fred.

"Don't you dare ask that!" Ron suddenly shouted, standing up so suddenly that it caused Fred to stumble back.

The twins may be stronger than Ron, but he was taller. Spinning round on his heel, Ron pinned his steel glare on the older twin.

"I know you had something to do with this! I just know it!"

"Ron, you just can't go around accusing people of breaking J-Harry out of bleeding Azkaban! For Merlin's underpants dyed blue, who do you think you are?" George cried angrily.

"First you accuse Sirius of breaking Harry out, then Remus just the other day."

Ron's face had steadily turned red with each passing word that George spoke, but that didn't deter him in the slightest, in fact it only seemed to make him carry on.

"And then there was Tonks, and now us! Who'll be next on your 'to accuse' list? Snape?"

Fred hid a grin behind his hand as he lent against a bookshelf, but Ron was not amused by this.

"Why don't you go ask him now, then? What's stopping you, Ron, from accusing every person to live and breathe?"

"I'm not! I'm following leads!"

"Temper, temper. I can almost see you stamping your foot if you carry on."

"Mark my words, George, I _will _prove to everyone that you helped Potter, I _will _gladly see you," here he shot a glare at Fred, "both of you, in Azkaban for what you have done!"

"You think we'll let you send us to Azkaban? dear _brother _I can now see how delusioned you are-"

"-in thinking that we have done anything that would warrant us a one-way ticket to Azkaban," Fred finished, moving around Ron so he stood by his twin.

"You're helping a murderer who has kidnapped Hermione! And you just stand there and let it happen! Bloody hell, you might have helped with-"

"Shut it, Ronnikins, we did _**not **_kidnap Hermione and nor did we help Harry to do so. So don't you dare say that we did!"

George glowered at his brother, fury flooding his system in waves. How dare he think that they would help put Hermione in danger in any way?

"If I find out that you helped him mark my words i'll make sure that you get sent to Azkaban personally!" With that said, Ron stormed out, doing a very good impression on Snape, with his auror robes billowing behind him.

"You know, I think he's starting to change into an overgrown bat, and one of these days he'll ba able to fly too if he keeps this up." George grinned, they had minds so alike.

"Not another Snape!" George gasped in mock horror, clutching his hand to his chest.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing, the tension leaking out of the room. They both pushed away Ron's threat, they wouldn't allow him to send them to prison for helping out friends.

The two were too busy trying to control themselves that they didn't notice Remus slip in, a book securely clasped in one hand. He walked by them and to the table which Ron had just kindly vacated and set the book down. With a raised eyebrow, he turned to the twins, studying them with a wary look in his eye.

"And what, might I ask, is two trouble-making twins doing in a Library? Laughing, might I add, without a book to be seen with them?"

George, finally calming down, wiped at the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes.

"Oh, you know, just came in for a friendly little chat with our favourite brother, Ronnikins-"

"-just to discuss about Harry and-"

"-Hermione and who his next-"

"-accusation victim was." Fred finished, running a hand through his hair, an act copied by his older twin.

Remus stilled and tensed. "What did he say? Has he found them?"

"Well...that's the thing..." George paused to scratch his nose, ignoring the impatient huff coming from the werewolf, "he believes that Harry kidnapped Hermione with the help of...get this...Fred and I. Or someone who he thinks broke Harry out. I mean, come on, when did Ron get a brain. He was never this inquisitive."

Fred nodded his head in agreement to what his brother said. "It's like, as soon as Hermione and Harry disappear, he decidedly gets a brain and starts to actually take note of what's going on around him. That's not the dear Ronnie that we know and prank, is it George?"

"Nope, definitely not him. The Ronnie-bear has changed. And not for the better, might I add," George concluded frowning, for once being serious, despite what he said.

Fred had an identical expression on his face. Remus stared at the twins, again sensing their underlining sadness of the situation. Rubbing a hand over his unshaven face wearily, he went round the desk and sat down.

"I don't know what's got into your brother you two. He hasn't acted the same since he and Hermione started dating at the end of their six year at school. Becoming more dependent on the ministry, especially when he got into the aurors department and Harry didn't."

George suddenly paled. "You know what, i'm feeling a strong sense of Daja Vu."

Fred looked over at him, wrinkling his eyebrows. It then dawned on him.

"Percy," he whispered, voice barely audible.

Remus heard it anyway, you've got to love those werewolf senses.

"It's nothing like the Percy 'situation' boys and don't even start to blame yourselves for this," he told them, his voice low and held an air of finality in it.

The twins looked at him for a moment before glancing at each other.

"If you really think about it Remus, you would see that it was-"

"-because we always teased and-"

"-pranked him. We were never really there for-"

"-him at all. In a certain way, we might have made things worse," George finished, closing his eyes and sighing.

"We are his older brothers, we should have been there for him. but we continuously wound him up and dragged him into trouble with mum. Maybe if we were less...Gred and Forge around him, maybe he wouldn't have thought...I don't know." Fred threw his hands up in frustration as his explanation verged on towards the lines of ramblings.

"He wouldn't have been jealous or bitter towards us and Harry when he found out that Harry gave us his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament, which helped us make the very things that we tested out on him and basically made his life hell." George bit his bottom lip as he let his brother finish.

"It _is _our fault."

They both took note that Remus was shaking his head, but they just ignored him.

Remus stood up. "You two did nothing, and I mean _nothing _wrong. It was not you that made Ron the way he is. He is his own person. He got jealous when Harry was entered into the cup and stopped being friends with him because of it. Did that have anything to do with you?" Both men shook their heads, mulling over his words. "He was the one to turn his back on Harry then and now, it is not your decision, you did not push him to it." Remus walked over to the door, "dinner is soon, just so you know," and with that passing comment, he left the room.

The Library was left with a pair of red-headed twins, half shocked by what Remus had told him, and the other half stunned by how fast he had managed to change the topic. Both shaking off their confusion as one, they left the Library to pester their older brother and to see if they could sneak in some pranks.

-------

_Bryant Street_

Sighing tiredly, ignorant about the Weasley twins' growing problem, James hauled along the many bags that Mia had brought. Mainly books. Mia herself had two bags, and had gone on ahead to the flat.

"No magic, why'd I have to open my mouth and tell her not to use magic?" He grumbled re-arranging the bags.

"Need any help?" James jumped, causing him to drop some of the bags.

Groaning, he nodded, not looking at the man that had offered.

"Please," he heard a chuckle before the stranger came into view.

James heard alarm bells go off in the back of his head. The man had short blond hair, his brown eyes twinkling in a way that made James instantly think of Dumbledore. But that's not what sent the 'Shit-o-Meter' to go out of wack, it was his presence. James could sense something...for lack of a better word, magical, about him. Power. James hesitated but the man paid him no attention and instead he scooped up the fallen bags and stood up, waiting for James to do the same. The man in question just blinked owlishly for a few moments before gathering himself and standing up next to him, eyeing the twinkling man warily.

"Names Jake, by the way," Jake introduced, walking ahead of James. "You live in the flats over there?" Jake asked, not waiting for James.

"Uh, yeah, how did you know?" The 'Shit-o-Meter' had hit an all time high.

"The young woman, your companion, just went in there. I saw her speak to you before she left."

James just nodded, not trusting this Jake in the slightest but mentally berated himself for being so paranoid. If only Sirius could see him now.

"Well, i've introduced myself, but I have yet to know who you are," Jake chuckled at James' confused look.

"My name is James," he stated bluntly, eyeing the smiling man. Seriously, what was there to smile about?

"Well, James, how long have you lived here?" James started, what a question!

He debated what to tell him. He held no obligation to tell the man anything but he felt that he could give him something. It wasn't like he was going to call him crazy or alert the aurors to where he was. He would have already have done it if he had any suspicions.

"I've lived here for a little while," James silently prayed that he would drop the conversation.

Knowing his luck, he would say something undeniably stupid and cause Jake to realise exactly who he really was. Well, if he was a wizard, anyways.

"I've just moved here recently too, nice neighborhood, don't you agree?" Damn Merlin! James sighed inwardly, speeding up his his pace in walking.

The Fates were laughing at him, he knew it. No-one could have this much bad luck in their life without some kind of meddling involved.

"Yeah, the neighborhood is nice." _Nearly there, nearly there, nearly_-

"You know James, you have the most unusual eyes, they kind of remind me of someone actually when I think about it."

That caused James to stop in his tracks. Jake stopped too, and turned to face James with a look of confusion on his face. James took several deep breaths, there was no need to panic just yet.

"You okay?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, i'm fine." He started walking again, careful not to look Jake in the eye.

"So...my eyes remind you of someone, yes? Who? If you don't mind me asking," James waited with trepidation as Jake turned his head to look at him.

"I can't remember who exactly," he shrugged and came to a stop outside of the building. "I'll leave you here, then. Can you manage all this up?"

James, shocked and relieved, nodded absently and took the rest of the bags.

"Thanks for the help, Jake," he managed to get out before he walked into the entrance way.

He didn't see the grin that had spread along Jake's face, nor the blue lights then enveloped him, leaving only empty space from where he once stood.

-------

_November 18th - Neville and Luna's home_

Neville should have known it was going to be a bad day ever since he woke up this morning. First putting salt instead of sugar in his tea, then one of his more docile plants attacked him and now the incessant hammering on his front door. Grumbling to himself as he re-bandaged the cut on his arm, Neville stalked out into the hallway.

"It's them, love," Luna warned him as she danced up behind him. "They believe that we are either hiding him or know where he is."

Neville turned to ask her what she was on about when the knocking came again.

"Alright already, we heard you the first time," he cried, opening the door only to face three Ministry officials.

"Told you," Luna hummed.

"What can I do for you three gentlemen?" Neville asked politely, blocking their view from his girlfriend.

"Ministry business, can we come in?"

Neville's eyes darted to the speaker and was slightly shocked to note that it was Percy. Nodding his head in acceptance he stepped aside and let them in.

"Luna, would you mind getting us something to drink?" He asked, wanting the blond witch away from the three men as soon as possible.

"Of course, too many Wunters here, I could get infected."

Smiling at her, Neville led Percy and the other two unknown men into his living room.

"Have a seat."

"Thank you," Percy nodded to him.

"Now, what's this all about?" Neville asked sharply.

"This is about the disappearance of one Hermione Granger and the breakout of one Harry Potter," one of the other two men spoke up.

Neville vaguely recognized him as Denver Prown, an auror who was a ravenclaw three years ahead of him when they were at school. When he focused on the figure to Prown's left, he saw that it was Terry Boot, another Ravenclaw.

"I wish I could help you," _not really, _"but I don't know where they could possibly be." Well, that part was true, he didn't know where they were exactly.

"Now why don't we believe that," sneered Prown.

_Because you're an idiot? _"Maybe because you have no solid lead in your case and you are here to accuse me of doing whatever it is you thought I had done just to look as if you're doing something?" Questioned Neville sweetly.

Snarling, Prown moved forward but was stopped by Percy, who had been quiet up until now.

"We would just like you to ask some questions, that's all," Percy told him, shifting uncomfortably on the sofa.

"Ask away, we have nothing to hide," Neville told them, smiling as Luna came back in a set the tea on the table.

"Right, well," flustered Percy, pushing his glasses up on his nose and glancing at the two other men on either side of him.

Growling, Prown leaned in and focused his icy gaze on Neville.

"Have you seen Mr Potter since his imprisonment?"

"No, I haven't and before you ask, I haven't seen him after he escaped."

Narrowing his eyes, Prown huffed. "Would you mind stating that under the use of Verituserum?"

Neville blinked. "Only in a Court of Law in front of a bunch of juries."

"Something to hide?"

"I just like my privacy."

"Of course," Prown sneered.

"Maybe we should bring him in?" Boot asked, eyeing Luna who was twirling her hair around her finger and gazing at Percy with a slightly dazed look.

"Her to?" Prown frowned at Percy, looking as if he was weighing his options.

Neville looked at Luna, catching her eye. He frowned as he noticed her tilting her head and making small jerking motions. Following her line, he caught the eyes of Percy.

"Yes, Mr Longbottom?"

"Nothing..." Neville furrowed his brows in confusion, mentally marking it to ask Luna later on when they were alone.

"If that is all..?"

"Actually, no-"

"Neville's right," Luna suddenly spoke up, "too many Wunters here to think."

"You heard the woman, I think its time for you to go."

"We'll want to properly interview you," Percy warned, "with Verituserum."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

"We'll take our leave then."

Boot tried to protest but clamped his mouth shut at the warning look he was given from the redhead.

"See you soon," Prown growled, shooting Percy a glare.

"Expect to be brought in front of the Minister in the near future," Boot hissed softly.

Luna just smiled at him as Neville led them back to the door and bowed slightly as he opened it. The three Ministry officials walked out, two of them glaring at him as they went.

"The minister sends his welcome," Prown hissed as he left, his warning hanging in the air even after he apparated out after his two colleagues.

-------

_Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts_

"He's been pardoned?" Remus cried, staring at, firstly the Headmaster then Sirius. "Is this true?" He demanded, not daring to hope. Sirius grinned.

"They caught Pettigrew, Remus! They caught him when he tried to sneak out of the place where he was staying! I'm free!" Remus grinned and clapped his best friend on the shoulder.

"That's great, Sirius! But how did they actually do it?"

"That would be Kingsley who caught Pettigrew, actually, Remus." At the werewolf's puzzled look, Albus explained, "he knew that Mr Pettigrew was a rat, and he also knew about the missing finger. When he went to investigate the room that he was staying in, in the muggle world, he was checking because of various..er..restricted objects that were being sold to muggles-"

Sirius squeaked, "Mundangus?"

Albus raised an eyebrow at the interruption, and Sirius flushed under the look that Remus gave him. The werewolf really wanted to know!

"Sorry," the animagus muttered, ducking his head.

"We don't know _who _sold the muggles these items as Arthur has rightfully disposed of them. And yes he was there," Albus added, seeing Remus' eyes widen. "So, when Kingsley checked under the bed for any of the offending objects, seeing as that room has not been hit by the 'Door Knob Electro me' item, they decided to check it out."

Remus nodded his head, thinking about the absolute stroke of luck that had hit them. He was glad for it though, his best friend was finally free in the eyes of the wizarding world.

"They saw the rat practically leap at Kingsley when he went to investigate under the bed, and the poor man himself was close enough to see that one of the toes were missing before he managed to grab the rat and throw it away from him. He quickly, and smartly so, pulled out his wand and shouted out the spell that forced the animagus to revert back to his human form. Of course they caught him and had then had taken him to the ministry." Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times, staring at Albus.

"You-you mean that Sirius is free? Really?" Remus looked back at the other Marauder in awe. "That's...wow...I can't seem to get my head around it." Sirius laughed, looking happier than he did in a long time.

"Well, you do have a rather big head, Moony!" Remus growled, but it was half-hearted.

"So, it's official, now? That you're free, now and everything?" Sirius simply nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yup, free as a bird. It took a lot to convince Fudge but with all those witnesses who saw Wormtail brought in, he had to set up a quick trial. Then low and behold my innocence had been brought to light."

"We'll tell the order later today, but Mr Black here couldn't wait and demanded, quite colourfully, that you should be told right away." Remus looked at Sirius disaprovingly, but couldn't hold it up for being too happy.

"Well, I guess this means we can celebrate to my freedom!" Sirius cried, causing the Headmaster to chuckle and for Remus to suddenly become worried. "Just like old times eh, Moony?" Now Remus was fearful.

* * *

**Thanks to Miss Unspeakable who pointed out my lack of Americanism i.e. my use on the word 'Mum' instead of 'Mom' and my use of 'bloody'.**

**Sorry it was posted so late, but I am struggling to find time. I have finished my last exam and now i'm off to study A levels. How fun. So that means that I will post less regularly but I will still post, i'm already half-way through the next chapter so hopefully it will be posted soon.**


	6. Witches, Wizards and Whitelighters

**I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them.**

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**Summary:** Harry Potter has been betrayed by some of those he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But when has anything been quiet or Harry? He meets the charmed ones and their children, falls in love and finds out that this is where he belongs. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bring with it the past that he sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/Wyatt, Hermione/Chris**

* * *

_November 25th - Weasley Wizard Wheezes_

Fred and George both sat at the table, staring at Dumbledore with something akin to shock as the old man watched them curiously, sucking on a lemon drop he had found in his pocket.

"Does this mean that we'll be sent to Azkaban?" Fred voiced, looking back down at the piece of parchment in his hand.

George stiffened slightly at the question, his eyes on his old headmaster. Dumbledore studied the two men for a moment as if pondering Fred's question.

"I saw what it did to Harry and Sirius. I am not going to let myself and my brother end up in there." Fred added.

Taking the letter from his twin's hand, he thought how this had just given them a hell of a lot of problems.

_-Flashback-_

_Fred was opening up the shop while his twin sat on the counter, reading the Daily Prophet with disinterest. Neither had noticed one of the Ministry's official owl fly towards them until it nearly crashed right into Fred face as he opened the door. He managed to duck just in time as it soared in and landed next to George. The twin in question was trying to quell his laughter as he took the letter from the puffing creature, amused by it's antics. Once the letter had been given to the correct person, the owl flew out again, this time clipping Fred on the back of the head._

_"Damn it!" Fred growled as he quickly shut the door back up, scanning the sky in case of any more owls decided to descend on them._

_"Fred...I think you should read this.." George's shaky voice brought Fred up short from his thoughts._

_He turned round and immediately took in his brother's ashen face. The parchment held out to him, albeit it shook slightly in his hand. Fred hesitated before he grabbed it, unsure as to what could upset his twin so much. Eyeing the slightly older man, his eyes scanned the contents, his face paling with every word that registered._

_Dear Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley,_

_The Ministry wishes to inform you that you have been charged with the aid of helping a known convict, Harold James Potter, and with the aid in the kidnap of one Hermione Jane Granger. Your joint trials will be held on the Twenty-Sixth of November and you will be dually escorted by several Aurors. Shall you wish to not attend, all decision of your views shall be discredited and you will face the maximum punishments given to you._

_Signed, Cornelius Fudge_

_Minister of Magic_

_As soon as Fred had read the last word, he had literally flown up the stairs, shouting to his brother to close the shop back up. George, shaken from his stupor, did as his younger brother had told him with no question. If he was going to do something that was going to help them, then that would be their first priority._

_Fred had, of course, did exactly that. He had used his floo powder to contact Dumbledore, and called him over. The next minute, the man was in front of him, brushing away the ash on his bright and colourful robes._

_"You called me here for a reason, no doubt?"_

_-End Flashback-_

Dumbledore looked at both red heads before he sighed and sat down opposite them.

"By what you have told me and what it says in this letter, if you were dealing with anyone else, you would've gotten a fair trial, as it is..."

Fred and George looked at one another in shock. Never before had they ever thought that they would end up in Azkaban. The place had haunted their dreams ever since they had helped Harry escape. The shouts and moans were still lingering in their sleep and never could they erase them.

"It seems that they have you trapped in a corner. If you go to the trial, they will force you to drink the truth potion, and if they find out the truth, you'll be in Azkaban, if you don't show up, you'll be in Azkaban, if you go into hiding here, they'll track you down and then if they find you, you'll be in Azkaban."

George let his head hit the table. Great, just what they needed, to be thrown in Azkaban.

"But there is always a way out of said corner," Dumbledore mused, smiling slightly as Fred's mouth dropped open and George's head snapped up.

Fred swore that he heard his brother's neck crack when he did that.

"How?" They both asked.

"You could always go up!" He told them joyfully.

Fred and George tilted their heads to the side and looked at their old headmaster as if he finally lost his mind. Not that they had never thought that he was ever actually sane, but the point was still there.

"I don't see how that will help us..."

"Don't you see? Either way you'll be sent to prison, we still have a few days left until the time comes for your trial! The one surest way to stay out is if you dissapear."

The twins mulled this over, their eyes regaining some light before they dimmed again.

"We can't, Professor Dumbledore. We have a-"

"-shop to run. We can't just leave-"

"-it. What will happen to it if we-"

"-aren't here?" George finished, picking at the edge of the parchment.

Dumbledore watched them for a moment, contemplating them.

"Well, you won't be able to run the shop if you are in Azkaban."

"He has a point," George muttered to Fred.

"You could always give the shop to Charlie, I suppose, or Sirius and Remus. Lord knows that they would love to." Fred nodded his head slightly while George frowned.

He knew that he and Fred were bad, but Sirius...he _did _want to have a shop here when they got back. Or if they come back.

"Where would we go? Won't they be able to find us? What about Sirius, Remus, Tonks and everyone else?" George pointed out, running a hand through his increasingly messy hair.

Dumbledore smiled at them both. "You need not worry about that. They all have alibis from what I here."

Fred rubbed his cheek absently, a puzzled look gracing his features.

"What do they have that won't make the Ministry shove Veritaserum down their throats?" He asked.

George snorted humorlessly.

"Well firstly, Sirius is a no-no because he was with Bill and Fleur, talking about properties that interested them." That was a good alibi, seeing as Bill is against Harry. "Remus took Tonks out for a meal, they have a receipt as well as the waiters there. Severus...well, you can see why your brother didn't bother to question him," the twins nodded and grinned slightly.

"Well, I think that the main people under suspicion all have alibis. Apart from you two," Dumbledore sighed tiredly. Looking for all his age.

"You two _need _to get away from here. If they find out where Harry and Hermione are, then what chances do we have? Harry is the only one who can stop Voldemort. That, and the fact that he is innocent and too young to view the horrors that people have bestowed upon him."

Fred and George slumped in their chairs. Where could they go without being seen? Somewhere where they knew someone, or some people, who could help, and know what they are doing. Or she. They both turned to one another and smiled slyly.

"We may know where to-"

"-go. But we need to find their exact-"

"-location before we do anything else." Fred was tapping his fingers as he finished.

Dumbledore stared at them with the twinkle in his eye even more prominent than they have ever seen before.

-------

_Halliwell Manor_

"I don't care what you think, Leo, I still don't believe that this is the best way forward!" Piper's voice called up the stairs, following her husband's retreating back.

Sighing in defeat, she turned back to face Jake.

"Now, let me get this straight, you want us to get to know this guy? Why? Isn't that your job?" Jake closed his eyes for a moment, wishing that he could have done what Leo had just did. Walk off.

"Look, he has power. A lot of it. Him and the girl could be of a great asset to your cause." Piper just raised an eyebrow, ignoring her youngest son when he orbed in.

"Mum, I kind of need..." Chris trailed off when he realised that there was someone else in the room.

Piper turned to him but he just shook his head.

"Later, it wasn't important. Hey Jake, what are you doing here?" Piper groaned at her son's bluntness.

"Well, I was just informing your mother, here, about Harry, or James, as he now likes to call himself." Chris instantly perked up at this piece of information. "And I have got myself to know him a little bit. He doesn't trust me, not by a long shot. But he believes that I am harmless enough. I also know that tonight they will be going back to P3. So, I thought about what Piper had earlier suggested, and that maybe you or Wyatt could orb into their flat and see if he really is my charge."

"Woah, Wait. Be kind, rewind, pause...and now play. You want someone, either Wyatt or myself, to orb into this guy's flat and snoop around in his personal belongings?"

Jake looked slightly embarrassed but nodded his head all the same. "It's the only way to know if James is really Harry or not," he explained, eyeing Piper with weariness.

The expression on her face was anything but approving. In fact, if he was a demon, he would've been scared shitless.

"I am **NOT **having my son breaking into someones' home!"

"We need to know if they are the people that I'm looking for! Please? They could help out a lot with the demon-"

"No! That's it! I'm not getting any innocents involved!" Piper cried out, effectively cutting Jake off.

Chris stepped up to his mother, his face pulled into a frown as he thought over the idea. It didn't sound all that bad, really.

"Mum, I think that Jake's right," Chris shot a look at his mother to listen to him. "If they are who Jake thinks they are, then that would be a great help! They have so much power that they put into the stick thingy that it would come in really handy in tricky situations!"

Piper looked like she wanted to argue, but one look at her stubborn son, she gave in.

"Fine, okay. But I want One of you to be at P3 to keep an eye on them, I don't want them to catch anyone in their flat, God only knows what they would do to you if they ever found you there."

Jake grinned, and with a few good-byes, he orbed off. Leaving two witches behind. One slightly excited and the other one down-right pissed off.

-------

_That night - P3_

James tapped his foot impatiently outside the girls loos. With his back against the wall, he was silently grateful that no-one was around to see him and are too busy dancing or drinking to see him waiting with a questionable item in his possession. Clutching the straps of Mia's pink purse in his hand, he shifted position and banged the back of his head in frustration as he glared at the door that Mia had disappeared behind fifteen minutes ago. What was taking that damn woman so long? Growling he hit the wall with the heel of his palm.

"Oh thank Merlin!" James cried as Mia stepped out of the toilets.

She grinned at him cheekily, snatching her purse out of his hand. "Pink suits you, James, goes well with your outfit."

"Hey! Now you're being downright cruel, Mia. Anyway, what took you so long? I was starting to think that that you fell asleep in there, or something," He complained, straightening up.

"Well, you see James, I actually take care with my appearance, unlike some people who I could name."

"Hey! It's not my fault that I inherited the Potter hair!" James shouted before he clamped his hands over his mouth.

Mia's eyes widened before she slapped her hand to her forehead at his flippancy.

"You idiot!" She cried furiously, looking up and down the hall.

The music was still blaring on through, and Mia didn't see anyone in the hallway. She also knew that there was no-one in the girls toilets. She silently thanked their lucky stars before turning to James, utter fury on her beautiful face. James, recovering from his act of stupidity, noticed the look, and stepped back...right into the wall behind him.

"You stupid man! What the hell were you thinking, blurting that out in a public place like this where anyone could hear you?!"

James opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off, taking a step closer to him as she gathered steam.

"I'll tell you exactly what you were thinking...absolutely nothing! You weren't thinking at all!" Mia then let out a string of curses that made James blush. "I swear sometimes I don't know why I bother trying to talk some sense into you when you flat-out ignore me and continue to do things so recklessly!" Huffing, she glared at him.

"Are you even listening to me? Am I getting through to you?"

"Yeah," James put in quickly, trying to calm the irate woman.

"I doubt that very much! Do you want to be dragged back to England where you will be very likely to be subjected to the Dementors Kiss."

James paled at that. Shooting a quick look around in an unconscious bout of paranoia.

"If someone from the wizarding world had heard you near god damn scream it out, we would be in a whole lot of trouble. They are searching for you and they won't stop just because we are in America!" Sucking in a deep breath, she continued, ignoring the dawning awe on James' face caused by speaking that all in one breath. "I'll be forced to take Veritserum which will in the end cause Fred and George to get dragged into this. We'll all be sent to Azkaban, and that will be the end of that."

Mia was now nose-to-nose with James, and the anger in her eyes caused James to squeak. "Stop being such an idiotic prat and think before you open that mouth of yours!"

Breathing hard, Mia glared into his eyes. James nodded slightly and when he saw that she wasn't about to hurl something else at him, relaxed a little. He watched as she took a step back, adjusting his body posture to look like he hadn't just been scared of his friend.

"Feeling better?" He queried tentatively.

It was Mia's turn to nod. "Yes...Look, James, I'm sorry that I shouted at you, even though you deserved it, I shouldn't have done that. I...I over-reacted."

James gave her a true smile as he listened to her apologize, reaching out to her.

"Hey, it's okay, I mean, I shouldn't have shouted that out. If anything, I should be the one to apologize." Mia just shook her head, and accepted his hug.

Mia pulled away after a moment, gracing him with a small smile before she looked around again.

"I think we should be heading on home, unless you want to stay here, that is?"

James looked down at Mia, seeing exhaustion clear on her face.

"I don't mind. I'm kinda' tired myself," James yawned for emphasis, causing her to laugh.

Grabbing his arm, she looked around them once more before she and James disappeared with a pop.

If they had looked towards the mens' room, they would have seen it slightly ajar, a blond-headed young man looking shocked, slack-jawed and staring at where they had just vanished. Regaining his senses, he swore before being swallowed up by blue lights, heading for home.

-------

_James and Mia's Flat_

Chris orbed into the living room, all the while praying that all occupants were not at home. Not that he didn't trust Jake, he did, to a certain degree, but it was better safe than sorry.

Slipping out and into the hallway, he eyed the three doors, trying to guess which led to James' bedroom. Guilt ate away at him but he knew that Jake needed to know if James was Harry, and it was a good enough reason to check it out. Nodding to himself, he opened the door closest to him and stepped in, flipping on the lights as he did so.

He instantly knew that it wasn't James' room. Scanning around quickly, he noticed the desk was basically bare of anything apart from a book. Curious, he walked all the way in and over to the other side of the room. Looking down at the worn cover, he picked it up and ran a hand over it. The words 'Hogwarts, a History' stared back at him. He frowned. What was Hogwarts? Flipping through the pages, he noted that the paper was, well, not really paper. It was older. Like parchment of some kind. He concluded that she liked the book, otherwise the pages wouldn't be in such wear.

Shaking his head, he replaced the book, taking notice of the desk draw that was slightly ajar. Curiosity peaked, he pulled it open. He was met with a photo album. Eyebrows furrowed, he picked up the red album and opened it. His eyes widened when he saw who was in the pictures. Pulling out the chair, ignoring the fact that he was in some strangers home, he sat.

The first photo caught his eye. Studying the picture, he nearly dropped the book in shock. The pictures were moving! Wide-eyed, he flipped the page over and saw even more moving pictures. _"Remember, their magic is different than that of ours, Piper, they don't have just one power..." _His father's words came back to him, causing him to still his near panic induced photo scanning. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the photos. He noticed that this was one of Christmas. It was obviously snowing outside, but the four people in the shot didn't seem to mind. He could see the black haired boy that was called Harry. He looked younger then, and he seemed to be happy.

The photo Harry seemed to be sneaking up to a brunette girl, a snowball in hand. He was about to throw it when a slightly chubby boy threw one that hit him on the side of the head. A redheaded boy was laughing as photo Harry appeared to splutter, gaining attention of the redhead and brunette, the latter laughing while the girl looked both disapproving and amusing at the same time. Chris found himself chuckling softly. He looked down at the writing below it. _'Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville Christmas at Hogwarts - 2006'_.

Hogwarts. There's that word again. Turning to the next caption, he saw the word over and over again. Every once in a while he will watch the pictures move and would find himself laughing. He didn't know how long he had been here, but he knew that he had to leave soon. Before he could do anything, however, he heard a loud pop issue from where he had orbed in. Placing the album down he stood up. He was making a move to see what it was, when voices reached his ears. Voices that signaled the arrival of Mia and James.

Swearing under his breath, he quickly shoved the album into the draw. He tried to make a dash to the light to turn it off when he fell over the chair. Chris soon found his face equainted with the carpet. Too stunned to move, he didn't have time to even orb when two people barralled into the room. A stick pointed at him from the black haired woman. The brown haired man was just behind her, his eyes cold. Chris looked up at them, his eyes wide.

His green eyes met brown.

She looked at him completely shocked.

"You?" He heard her whisper, and he suddenly remembered the time when she had met him.

When he caused her to fall over. That was a week or so ago? Blinking back the confusion, he smiled at them weakly.

"Hello," he croaked out nervously.

"Who are you and how did you get in here? Or better yet, what do you want?" The guy, James, questioned, his voice gave away nothing of what he was feeling.

He sometimes wished that he had his aunt's power of Empathy to help him out.

"Uh...my name is...ur..."

Chris looked around panicked. He wasn't meant to get caught, but he knew that he couldn't orb out now. They would freak out and move off somewhere else.

"My name is Chris Halliwell, and I got here because I orbed." He watched their expressions carefully.

They both held a look of utter confusion on their faces. That meant that they didn't know anything about the Halliwell name. Well that's just great. He could have just followed them at P3, but no, his big brother wanted to do that while he got stuck with checking out James' identity. And now he was caught. Yes, his mother was going to rip him a new one.

"What's orbing?" Mia asked, interested.

"Well, it's a type of travel. Like you have that funny apparition thing going on," he explained, going to get up but only succeeded in getting a wand in his face.

"Your going to tell us everything, leave nothing out," James told him, his stance tense. "We'll know if you do."

Chris nodded, feeling a headache starting already. This was going to be a long night.

--------

"Right, so let me get this straight," James started, looking at Chris with a mixture of awe and confusion, he may still be put off with the fact that he and Mia had been found out for a while and hadn't even known about it. "You have powers, that have no connection to wands? And you can...orb, was it? Without the worry of splinching yourself or sending yourself flat on your face? Wow, wish I could do that."

Mia rolled her eyes at James. She was slightly miffed about the fact that Chris had invaded her privacy, but also the fact that her protection against being tracked had been breached by himself and his family. She had also read nothing on Wiccan Witches and had never heard about the Charmed Ones, making her feeling dissapointed that her own range of knowledge didn't include any of this.

"I have powers. I can orb, move things with my mind, and I can even make people choke-"

"What?! Why would you do that?" Mia stared at Chris and thought, not for the first time, that he could be just lulling them into a false sense of security.

"I don't use it on innocents! Only demons...but that is only when I'm in a desperate situation." Chris defended, his tone clearly telling James and Mia that he was offended that they could even think that he would abuse his powers. "As I was saying, I can cause people to choke, like they can't breathe. I can also crush peoples' hearts."

"My, doesn't that sound pleasant!" James' sarcastic remark caused Chris to frown at the younger man.

"Hey! I don't ask for my powers, I was born with them and given them over a duration period."

Mia raised and eyebrow while James eyed the woman's wand that was still in her hand. What he wouldn't give to have his wand...

"So, you fight demons with your brother, Wyatt? And with the rest of your family?" At Chris' cautious nod, Mia smiled. "Interesting profession. I'd prefer being a healer myself."

James snorted into his cup. Chris looked puzzled. "What's a healer?"

"A healer is the same as a Doctor, basically. And I don't see why my career choice is so funny, James."

"It's just that you can be rather..." James paused, searching for the right word that would describe Mia's treatment. "Your a little heavy-handed when it comes to treating wounds and that."

"I am most certainly not heavy-handed!" Mia scolded, a little hurt by what James had said.

James, recognising the emotion playing in her eyes, set his drink down and moved over to where she sat.

"It's not like we _don't _appreciate when you help us, because we do, and I think you will be a great healer." James smiled softly at Mia, causing Chris to shift in his seat slightly, feeling like he was being dismissed, like an outsider, which he was but that wasn't the point.

"I know that you let your emotions get the better of you, and cause you to add a little too much pressure when you help people." Jame concluded, running a hand through Mia's hair.

She smiled weakly at him before turning back to Chris.

"How did you find us? I mean, you told us that your family, um, scryed for James, but how could simple scrying track him down?"

"We got hold of his necklace, the one with the two symbols on them."

"Eolh and Rad, protection and luck," Mia informed Chris, running a finger over the surface of the kitchen table. James grinned, thinking about their first Christmas out of Hogwarts, having finished their seventh year. Mia had given him the necklace, telling him he would need it if he was going to train as an auror. A sudden wave o sadness hit him. He, Ron and Mia had gone into auror training. It didn't matter to anyone that Mia wanted to become a healer. She was to be his 'sidekick', to stand in if he was to take injury, or worse.

Chris had continued talking about demons and about his family while James had wallowed in his own anger at himself and the rest of the order for forcing them to fight in the war in the first place.

"...So that's why we searched for James and yourself. Jake is James' whitelighter." The latter man in question visibly shook himself and looked at Chris.

"Wait, what? Jake's my whitelighter, people who disappear in blue lights?" With Chris nodding, James pulled out a chair and sank down into it. "Well, I don't feel like my privacy has been violated at all. Nope, don't feel a thing," James said sarcastically. "Why the hell did he not just come up and tell me in the first place that he was my whitelighter? I could have used him when I was going into Azkaban!"

James' mutterings continued as he glared out of the window, wincing when Mia's foot conected with his shin.

"He didn't tell you because you wouldn't have believed him and would have most likely moved away to another state or something." Chris replied primly, smirking at James' indignant look. "You needed to get to know him. To trust him, at least. Although I did tell him that was impossible but-"

"Hang on for one second! I _do _trust people. And for your information, I have to deal with the broken trust of a lot of people who I see as friends and family that I gave it too. So pardon me if I cannot trust a perfect stranger, call me a paranoid loon, but it won't change the fact that trust has to be earned and given with the promise to hold it and not throw it away. Once you break it, that's it, game over."

Chris opened and closed his mouth, a perfect imitation of a fish, while Mia closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten. It helped her relax, silently knowing that the only people that James trusted were so few, one of them including her. It made her heart ache slightly at thought of _why _James couldn't trust easily.

"I'm sorry if I had insulted you, James, I never meant for that." Chris apologized sliding a glance Mia's way.

James shrugged his shoulders in a non-committed fashion.

"So, are we going to meet the rest of you guys, or are they going to break into our flat and ransack through draws and through our other personal items?" James spoke with a sickle sweet voice, this time dodging Mia's kick. Chris blushed and mumbled and apology.

"I could come and collect you at ten? I could then orb the three of us to the Manor and you can meet the rest of the family," Chris suggested, looking from James to Mia and back again.

"As long as you _knock _on the door. From the landing. So that we can invite you in rather than you orbing in unannounced," James mused, enjoying Chris' discomfort.

James and Mia had gambled a lot, and if they were to believe what orb-boy was telling them, it would be one of the biggest chances that they had yet to take. He couldn't go back to Azkaban, he wouldn't. And he won't let Mia get thrown in there either. Then there was the twins to think about. How were they doing? How did he know that they haven't been found out and- No. He wouldn't jump to conclusions. These were the Weasley twins he was thinking about. They knew how to cover their tracks. They could look after themselves. Maybe Mia was right, he always jumped to the worst conclusions, often screwing things up even worse. Like in fifth year when Sirius nearly fell into the veil.

_-FlashBack-_

_Harry stared at the prophesy, smashed on the floor. The voice unheard by all as the fight raged on around him. Only the older Malfoy saw it break. If his indicated wail of despair and defeat was anything to go by._

_Harry left Neville on the stairs, keeping Malfoy's wand aimed at him and not at his friend. The blond looked beyond apoplectic as he glared at the boy because his failure to the Dark Lord will not go unpunished._

_"You stupid boy! Now look at what you've done. So now no-one knows what it says anymore!" Lucius spat, his wand pointed at Harry chest._

_The boy in question had his wand out too, but it wasn't raised all that high as he looked around him in desperation, knowing he wasn't powerful enough to take on the older wizard. He saw Sirius fight Bellatrix near them over Malfoy's shoulder, but his back was turned away, taunting his cousin as they dueled. Lucius followed his gaze and laughed cruelly, smirking as he turned back to the fifteen year old._

_"He won't be able to help you now, Potter! The mutt will die for your mistakes, boy. He'll cry over your broken body, a pathetic man who'll become even more reckless and endanger your order. That is, if Bellatrix doesn't finish him off first."_

_Harry narrowed his eyes, throwing a couple of hexes the blond's way. Lucius easily dodged, his face showing his amusement at Harry's attempt to take him down._

_"Think of what the Dark Lord would reward me with after I kill the mighty Boy-Who-Lived!" His laughter caused goose-bumps to erupt up and down Harry's arms._

_Lucius raised his wand, the killing curse already on the tip of his tongue but something behind him kept the boy's focus. Harry's attention was on his Godfather. Horror spread across his face as he saw a curse hit him in the chest, sending the older man back. Right towards the Veil._

_Curious about the boys' fear, he turned slightly. That was Lucius' mistake._

_Harry didn't even think about what he was doing because for the next moment he shouted "Expelliarmus!" at Malfoy Sr. and red light met it's intended target, too quick to deflect. But instead of just disarming the blond, Harry had put so much emotion into the spell that it sent not only the wand, but Lucius too, flying backwards to meet Sirius at the entrance to the veil. The collision caused the dark haired man from falling through._

_The battle had paused, everyone had heard Harry's shout and saw Lucius crash into Sirius. Both men stayed there for a few moments, too stunned to actually move or realise that they were entangled with their counterpart. When Harry had rushed over to see to Sirius, they both noticed who they had collided with and scrambled away from one another, utmost disgust on their faces._

_"You okay, Sirius? You're not hurt, are you?"_

_Sirius looked at his godson in confusion before he saw the veil. The thing that he was flying towards. Eyes widening, he stared up at Harry._

_"You hit him with a spell so that he would stop me from going in there?" He jerked his thumb behind him to indicate the arch._

_Harry nodded weakly, neither seeing the battle around them get more intense, the order angered by the near loss of one of their own._

_"Wow, th-" whatever Sirius was about to say was cut off by Lucius and Bellatrix as they shot curses at them._

_Bellatrix lured Harry away from his godfather who was dueling with Lucius._

_"I see that the ickle baby Potter has managed to save my dear old cousin. How sweet, just like your Daddy-poo would have done." Harry clenched his jaw, glaring at the crazed witch infront of him. "Oh, but how silly of me, he can't because he's dead. Just like his mud-blooded wi-" Harry shot a spell at Bellatrix, enraged about what she had said._

_But she just cackled, backing up through a side corridor._

_"Come now, Potter, is that all you've got. What a disappointment you must be to Sirius. Not to mention to your parents if they weren't rotting in the ground!"_

_Harry saw red. He forgot about the wand in his hand, and flew at her. She smiled at him wickedly before dashing off, Harry hot on her tail, ignoring the shouts from Sirius and Remus. Bellatrix was the only thing that he could focus on right now._

_-End of Flashback-_

"...What do you think, James?" Mia asked, looking at him with questioning eyes.

"Huh?" The sound left his lips before he could process the fact that he had been lost down memory lane.

Mia sighed in exasperation. "I _said _that Chris could pick us up at twelve, leaving us time to sleep in a little later. I asked you if you agreed to the time."

Chris had an eyebrow raised at James but held his tongue. James for his part looked a little sheepish.

"Sorry, I just remembered some stuff. Nothing important, Mia," James reassured her once he saw her stiffen in her seat. "The time doesn't bother me. But how does it feel to orb?" James asked curiously.

James was instantly on guard at the glint that suddenly shone from the green eyes of the whitelighter/witch.

-------

_Halliwell Manor_

Chris orbed into Halliwell Manor to meet a flurry of moving bodies.

"Chris!" Shouted his brother, thumping him on the back with a barely concealed look of relief on his face.

His little brother had taken so long to come home and he had not contacted anyone that he became worried and was ready to orb over there himself. It was only the fact that he could sense Chris and knew he wasn't in any immediate danger that stopped him. His mother on the other hand was flying about the manor, shouting at Leo to call her sisters. The woman herself made her presence known by storming up the the two Halliwell brothers. Her anger pent up like a damn about to break.

"What took you so long, Chris?" Chris opened his mouth to reply but Piper continued her rant. "They catch you sneaking around in their flat?" Again Chris opened his mouth to give his input but by this time Piper had started speaking again. "They caught you. I _knew _that this was a bad idea, how could you be so careless?"

Leo stepped in quickly, seeing and hearing his wife shout at his youngest son.

"Honey, let Chris talk. Why not sit down with everyone else a minute?" Leo suggested, steering his wife to a seat by Coop.

Chris took a deep breath as every face looked at him. "Well mum was right, they did catch me."

Wyatt snickered and joined Prue on the floor. Chris shot him a nasty look but otherwise ignored him.

"I went into Mia's room instead of James'. I found a book on 'Hogwarts, A History' the name of their magic school. I saw a draw that wasn't completely shut so, you know, I took a little peek." Piper groaned, resting her head on Leo's shoulder.

Prue tisked at him, catching Leo's attention.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Prue?" He asked, shifting slightly as if to stand.

"Melinda, Kathleen and Lucy are here, so Why can't I?"

Phoebe just shook her head tiredly. Piper smiled at Prue, being reminded of her older sister when she was alive while Paige grinned at the girl. Her children were being watched by her husband's family.

"Anyway, I want to know why he took so long now instead of tomorrow where everyone cuts out some of what he will tell us. So simplify it to save time," Prue told them before turning back to face Chris.

"Well..." Chris said, shooting Prue an amused glance, "I found a photo album of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in the draw. Jake, you were right."

Piper coughed and everyone looked at her. "What? I had something in my throat," Wyatt chuckled at his mother's reaction.

"I heard them come home but I thought that they would stay at P3 longer. I didn't have time to get out and they found me. I assumed that I had more time than I was given," here Chris gave Wyatt a dirty look.

"Hey! Don't blame me that they had wanted to come home earlier than expected. James or Harry or...whichever blurted out his last _real _name and Mia or Hermione ripped into him about it." Here Wyatt paused, "I feel sorry for the dude, I mean, _wow_, she really tore at him with her words. Her, er, vocabulary even made me blush."

"Wyatt focus," Leo sighed.

"Yes, well, they then went home."

Phoebe grinned while Paige rolled her eyes at her nephew's antics. A twitch gathered by Piper's eye as she stared at her son.

Wyatt took a deep breath. "It's not my fault that you were stupid enough to get caught snooping around a woman's bedroom. How did you get caught exactly?"

Chris flat-out glared at him. "I...I fell over a chair," he replied, closing his eyes as his family chuckled at his clumsiness.

"You _fell _over a chair? How did you not notice that it was there?" Wyatt asked, ignoring the exasperated looks his family shot him.

"I panicked, alright?"

"You panicked," Wyatt deadpanned. "You mean to tell me that you can face demons without falling, but when you're about to face a woman in her bedroom you trip?"

Chris poked the sofa with his finger. The carpet prodded by his foot. A glare was sent his brother's way.

"Heard of orbing?"

"That's enough!" Piper snapped, sending Wyatt her best glare. "Continue what you were saying, Chris."

"Thanks, mom, as I was saying, they caught me and we talked. Basically about our powers and theirs."

Paige rubbed her eyes, trying to keep them open.

"I bet they wanted to know how we found them," Henry mused from his position next to his wife.

Chris nodded in affirmination. "Quite right. I told them all about demons, whitelighters, Witches of our variety and scrying."

Chris took in a deep breath, everyone in the room knew about Witches and Wizards from the Wizarding world. How they use wands and have no small constriction on personal gain -so unfair!

"They are also coming here at twelve. I'm orbing them here." There was silence for a moment, his family digesting what he had just said. Then they all spoke at once, demanding to know how he got them to come and why at that time. It looked like he wasn't going to get any sleep for a while.

-------

_November 26th - Weasley Wizard Weazes_

Fred paced around the living room, his eyes darting to the clock every now and again in agitation. Professor Dumbledore was going to floo over with the portkey that would effectively take himself and George far away. They weren't to tell anybody where they were going as it seemed pointless to do so. They also don't know where they're being sent to so they couldn't even if they wanted to. Undoubtedly it would be all over the Daily Prophet within the next couple of days. How they had evaded the Ministry and were on the 'run', knowing something about Harry's escape and Hermione's disappearance. They would be right, but they weren't to know that.

While Fred started to wear a hole in the carpet, George was busy packing up various ingredients that they would need to make more products. Even if they were on the run, they would soon get bored so why not make things to pass the time?

"Fred, will you just sit down for a minute? I actually like the fluffiness the carpet has, thank you," George complained.

Fred shot him a look but complied, throwing himself gracelessly onto their couch.

"He's late," Fred stated simply. "The Aurors are watching us and are ready to bring us in either now or tomorrow, probably and correctly assuming that we would disappear, so excuse me, my identically evil twin, if I want to pace around the bloody room and ruin the-" Fred was cut off by the fire flaring up a brilliant green.

Albus Dumbledore stepped out, brushing off the soot that had collected on his clothes.

"I apologise for my tardiness," he told them, quickly pulling out a rather stuffed teddy bear. "We must hurry, they may check on you at anytime. Grab hold of all of your items and hold on, the portkey will activate in just a minute."

The twins grabbed their bags and held onto each paw, the seriousness of what they were about to do weighing upon them.

"Where are we going, Dumbledore?" Both men asked questioningly.

The older man smiled rather slyly. Fred and George looked at each other, vaguely uncomfortable.

"Now, I cannot stress to you on how important it is to have a new identity. George, your new name will be Eric Sinclaire while Fred, your name will be Ryan Sinclaire." Dumbledore's eyes shifted to the clock before looking back at them. "What you look like is up to you, but make sure you aren't recognisable to the wizarding world." The portkey started to glow.

"Good luck, say hello to James and Mia if you see them!" The twins' eyes widened, that was the last thing they heard before the feeling of a hook behind their navel pulling them from Dumbledore and their home.

Dumbledore chuckled, popping a lemon drop into his mouth as he turned back to the fire place. He needed to see if Sirius could look after the shop, better late than never and all that.

* * *

**I hope you liked this one.**

**Also athenakitty pointed out something that I haven't actually thought of really. Sirius can ban Ron from the estate but the order meetings would be held there and Dumbledore wants as many people as he can get to help, even if they do not believe Harry.**

**I am so sorry that this is so late but, well, I kind of went off this story, ideas of others have been in my head and I had to write them down -look on my user and you shall see- although I shouldn't use that as an excuse. Do NOT expect regular updates. I will update at some point but not just yet.**


	7. Firewhiskey and Letters

I do not own Harry Potter or Charmed or any of the characters that are in them. Apart from Jake, my made up white lighter.

**This is a rewrite from my original version, so parts will be the same, similar and some completely different.**

**This is an AU so that means that Sirius did not die.**

**WARNING: There will be a slash pairing or two. Don't read if you don't like it. Also some OOCness.**

**Summary:** Harry Potter has been betrayed by some of those he had trusted with his life. Now on the run, he and Hermione head to San Francisco looking for a quieter life. But when has anything been quiet or Harry? He meets the charmed ones and their children, falls in love and finds out that this is where he belongs. Nothing is that simple though, trouble will find them, and bring with it the past that he sought to leave behind.

**Main Pairings: Harry/Wyatt, Hermione/Chris**

**AN/: Ack! Gone nearly a year, shame on me I know, but I have been put off of Charmed, I'm not so much interested in it as I once was. I don't know if I'm going to update this again, and I am sorry about that, but my television interests have changed (like to Supernatural). I'm sorry for those who wanted me to continue this but I just can't even force myself to continue.**

**I actually did this chapter a couple of months ago, but didn't publish it.**

* * *

_November 27th Grimwald Place_

Charlie Weasley sighed in relief as he sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. He hadn't slept much since before Harry was in Azkaban. Travelling back and forth from his job in Romania to England nearly each and everyday was finally putting a strain on the young Dragon handler but he refused to leave his job or the order. He still could not get his head around the fact that only he, Fred and George were the only Weasley's who believed in Harry's innocence and he didn't even know the other man that well. Speaking of Fred and George... those two had mysteriously disappeared yesterday. Coincidently missing their trial date which happened to be today.

Charlie jumped in surprise as Sirius bounded into the kitchen, a grin on his face.

"Hey Charlie."

"Hello, Sirius..." Charlie trailed off in bemusement as he watched the man dart about the room. "Er..."

"Don't mind me," Sirius grinned, "I'm just looking for something."

"Looking for what?" Charlie asked.

"His sanity." A voice spoke up from the doorway.

"Very funny, Moony." Sirius shot back.

Sirius pulled open a cabinet, thrusting his hands in without hesitation as he tilted his head, tongue poking out slightly. Remus made a choking sound and dashed across the room, practically throwing himself at his old friend as he tried to put a stop to the man's actions.

"What on earth..." Charlie murmured.

"No-" Sirius snarled. "Moony let go of me!"

Remus growled back, his arms securely wrapped around the animagus' waist as he hoisted him up off his feet and away from the cabinet.

"Sorry... Sirius- Oof! This is for... your own... good!" Remus grunted in pain as Sirius' elbow met his stomach.

"You are no- OW! No!" Sirius let out a loud whine as Remus pinned him to the floor.

"This is for your own good!" Remus told him. "You cannot keep drinking firewhiskey all the time! You drink in the morning, middle of the day and at night. You need to cut back!"

"No I don't!" Sirius snarled.

Charlie continued to watch wide-eyed, his attention shifting from the duo on the floor to the rolling bottle as it made it's way towards him.

* * *

_Halliwell Manor_

Wyatt sat back and watched as Chris orbed away to pick up James and Mia. He had a total of six hours sleep all in all, and did not appreciate his cousins, Kathleen and Lucy being so bright and cheerful at this time. After Chris had told them about his talk with the duo, they had gone to bed. Wyatt had then found sleep elusive.

"I wonder what they look like now," Kathleen thought aloud, sharing a look with her twin as both sat down in front of Wyatt.

Piper hushed them as she walked passed, Pheobe and Paige trailing behind her.

"They'll be here any minute," she said distractedly.

Just as she uttered this, blue orbs took form, leaving in it's place three people, one of which was her son.

Henry, who was walking by at the time, jumped slightly in surprise. "Couldn't you have done that outside and then enter through the front door like normal people?"

"Sorry uncle Henry." Chris apologized.

Everyone in the house focused their attention on the young man and woman that stood before them. Wyatt took this chance to study their new guests himself. He took in their appearance without P3's dim lighting. The young man to Chris' right was about 5ft 11' give or take an inch with long brown hair that held a tint of red at he shook some stray pieces out of his emerald eyes while the rest was tied back at the nape of his neck. The young woman to Chris' left had long black hair and her eyes were a deep brown. She was about 5ft 6', reaching up to Chris' shoulders.

Everyone gathered around them, sitting on various surfaces to face the two new arrivals. Chris, James and Mia stood in the centre of the room. All eyes were on them and Wyatt felt a stab of sympathy for them. They didn't know his mother or her sisters.

"Um... hi?" James spoke up first, shifting so he was standing slightly behind Chris.

Being around large groups of people unsettled him. It reminded him a little too much of his trial. He was half-expecting to see an army of red heads appear and drag him back to Azkaban. Henry and Paige had noticed his slight movement but didn't comment on it, filing it to the back of their minds.

James shot a look at his companion but Mia only took a deep breath and held it, moving closer to the young white-lighter/witch.

Chris took pity on them. "Everyone, this is Mia and James, or as you know them, Hermione and Harry,"

Mia bit her lip, desperately wishing that she could be anywhere but here. She shot a look behind her and met James' eyes. She gave him a strained smile which he returned with a grimace.

"Mia, James, this is my aunt Phoebe and uncle Coop and their children Melinda, Sarah and Beth," the middle sister of the charmed ones grinned and waved while Coop nodded his head and smiled. Sarah and Beth said hello while Melinda blushed and said a quick hi. Chris continued, "Aunt Paige and uncle Henry, then there's Kathleen, Lucy and Henry Jr," Mia studied each family member, committing each face to names.

"And this is my mum and Dad, Piper and Leo. And the guy on the sofa is my big brother, Wyatt," Chris concluded.

James looked over at the young blond man. He looked to be over 6ft tall, taller than James who was 6ft himself. His t-shirt clung to his body, outlining his, as Mia would put it, 'well structured chest'. Looking up, he met hazel eyes as well as a smirk that graced his lips. Realising that he had been caught staring, James looked at the carpet, his cheeks heating up slightly in embarrassment.

Chris grinned at the brown-haired man in amusement.

"Lovely to meet you," Piper said as she stood up and ushered them into the kitchen for some food.

Wyatt and Chris shared a look of fond exasperation before following their mother. Wyatt could dimly hear Henry talking about taking Kathleen, Lucy and Henry Jr to watch a new movie or something. He snorted in amusement as he heard Kathleen and Lucy protest.

Piper, Mia, James, Chris and Wyatt stood in the kitchen and watched as Leo called Jake. James mumbled something along the lines of 'sleazy no good whitelighter' and 'Can shove his orbs right up his-' that was when the man himself orbed in.

Jake took one look at James and grinned. "Hey, how's it going?"

"How's it... _how's it going? _I'll tell you orb guy, I've just found out about an entire other type of witches and powers and... and demons! And to put the icing on this day that we are having to suffer through so far, we found a whitelighter in Mia's room, you also know that all you people know about our real identity and what has happened in our lives and, oh yeah, I forgot the cherry for the top of this particularly bitter proverbial cake, you have a way to find us!" James' tirade caused a whole new meaning of 'silent as the grave', you could hear a pin drop with everyones shocked silence.

"Did he even breathe?" Chris murmured to his brother.

Wyatt shook his head, silently thinking about how good the ability to not breathe for long periods of time, before mentally berating himself for having such thoughts.

"Ah, well, yes. Now, you see James, or Harry, not all of us know about your Wizarding world. Only us Whitelighters do." Jake was the first to speak, trying to find the quickest way to calm the brunette down.

Wyatt personally thought the young man looked rather endearing with his flushed face and muscles all tensed up like the way they were. Shaking his head slightly, he opted to avoid looking at the brunette altogether and focus on Jake.

"Why not take off the glamour charms, eh?" Jake asked, keeping an eye on their wands as they withdrew them.

Wyatt heard Chris snort as he saw the two pieces of wood. Piper raised an eyebrow but held her tongue.

Mia muttered a few words before the two strangers blurred slightly. Wyatt blinked several times before both James and Mia came back into focus. Wyatt felt his eyes widen as he looked at James. The young man had long black hair, naturally messy, Wyatt noted. He was also blinking rapidly. The reason why became very clear. When Mia had lifted the charm, James' contacts had also come out.

Mia grinned at the shocked faces, perching James' glasses on his nose. James grinned at her, ruffling his hair nervously. Mia herself ran a hand through her brown curls. She caught Chris watching the movement and raised an eyebrow when she caught his eye.

"Well, Harry and Hermione-"

"Just call us James and Mia," James cut off, narrowing his eyes slightly at Jake.

The whitelighter shifted under James' gaze before he nodded. Piper hid a smile. She was no fan of the elders and the black-haired man obviously had reserved feelings towards them also.

"Right, well, H-James, as you know I am your white-lighter, Jake."

James raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.

"I know who and what you are," he spoke blandly.

Mia shook her head while she felt Chris' body shake with suppressed mirth. She rolled her eyes. Men.

"What I want to know, Jake, is why you didn't help me while I was rotting in Azkaban."

Wyatt and Chris winced at his tone while Mia nodded her head in agreement to her friend.

"You were not to know of me, not yet. I was forbidden to reveal myself to you or help you until they told me otherwise."

"Who told you?" Mia asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at Jake.

James straightened up slightly, that's what he wanted to know. Jake sighed, looking up at the ceiling as if it held all the answers.

"Have you ever heard of the Angels of Destiny, James?"

The green-eyed man shook his head. Piper, Wyatt and Chris on the other hand all shared a look of apprehension.

"The Angels of Destiny are beings that pave our lives here on earth. They create your possible future." Jake ran a hand through his hair irritably. "Have you ever wondered why you survived the killing curse the night your parents died?" He suddenly asked, locking eyes with his charge.

James froze. What was this guy on about? "My mum died so that I could live," James finally spoke up.

Jake shook his head in exasperation. "Yes, yes, your mother died to protect you. But so have many other mothers. Your parents died like so many other families. The only difference is that you lived."

Mia and James looked at each other. Mia with a calculated look and James with one with utter confusion.

"I thought that was because I was the first child that Voldemort actually tried to kill." James said.

"That is correct, yes, but also because you were _destined _to live that night."

"If this is about that stupid prophesy-"

"Partially," Jake cut across. "Also, because you were meant for something more. Something that reaches further than that prophesy."

"Like what?" Mia asked, eyes narrowed.

"I have no idea." Jake shrugged. "The Angels of Destiny has tied your future with that of another. Ever since you were born, you were joined to them. Tell me, what do you remember of that night?"

James rubbed his scar wearily. "Just my parents screams and flashes of green light."

Mia rested a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Jake nodded his head while Piper looked ill and her two sons shuffled their feet in discomfort.

"Green light, yes, but what was the _very _last thing that you saw, any change in memory where it was hazy, like a heat wave only tinted with colour?"

James wrinkled his nose while he thought back. Mia moved closer, she knew how hard it was for him to relive his parents death.

"Right before the memory finishes, the killing curse is flying towards me then..." James struggled, trying to remember what happened next. "Then there was green light everywhere, just before the curse hit. That's all.

James didn't want to discuss anymore, it hurt too much. Jake just nodded his head, choosing to not say anything and ignoring the glares being sent his way.

"I'll leave you to it, then. But if you need me, just give me a shout." Jake nodded his head towards his charge before orbing out.

"Well, as it appears that Jake has finish pestering James about his past, maybe we can get to know one another?" Mia suggested, tilting her head and looking at Piper.

She smiled and nodded in agreement. "I made us something to eat," she told them, turning to the oven.

"Do you need any help?" James asked.

"No thank you." Piper grinned. "At least you're more considerate than my two sons."

"Mum!"

* * *

3:00p.m.

Halliwell Kitchen

James looked out the window, bored. After talking for hours to the Halliwells and both families sharing parts of their past, however vague, they had decided to call it a day. His emerald eyes suddenly widened, however, when he caught sight of a black owl flying towards the manor. Piper's concerned voice didn't really register in his mind as he called for Mia.

"What the hell is that heading this way?" Wyatt demanded, peering over the raven-haired youth in front of him.

"It's an owl..." Mia stopped speaking, panic taking over.

The only people who could owl them was the Weasley twins. She pushed passed the wary Halliwell and reached over James' shoulder and opened the window just as the bird reached them.

James eyed the winged creature as it swooped down and perched on his shoulder, making Mia jump out of the way lest she get a face full of feathers. Everyone looked from the owl to James and back again. The man frowned at the owl, the owl looked and felt familiar, very familiar. Then as he looked into the bird's eyes, he knew.

"Hedwig?" He asked incredulously, wondering what happened to his once white feathered friend.

Hedwig hooted in affirmination and nipped his ear affectionately. Mia reached over and stroked her, feeling the soft feathers under her fingers.

"What did they do to you?" She murmured, ignoring the looks from everyone in the room and focused her attention on the now black-feathered owl.

"Who's bird is that and what the hell is it doing here?" Piper questioned, ready to blow it up if it made any movement towards her.

"That, Piper, is an owl. Wizards use them to send letters to one another," Mia informed the eldest charmed one, amusement clear in her voice.

"This is Hedwig, my owl. I left her with some friends of mine." James added.

Chris moved towards James, keeping a weary eye on the big owl with the sharp beak.

"Hedwig? But I thought that she was white," Mia smiled at Chris in bemusement.

"Wait, back up a minute there," James took the letter that was attached to Hedwig's and she hopped down to the back of the chair by the counter.

Piper drew the attention of Mia. "You use them," she gestured towards the owl absently, "to send letters to one another. Why not just use the phone?"

Mia chuckled. "How much _did _Leo leave out about the wizarding world?"

Sighing, James leaned against the wall, letter in hand. "The amount of magic in a typical wizarding home messes with electronics. I didn't actually read too much into the whys and hows," he muttered by the end, rubbing his neck.

Mia sighed and picked up where her friend had left off. "Our type of magic causes electricity to malfunction. It gets mixed up with the signals."

Chris and Wyatt looked at one another in shock. No electricity? Piper just blinked.

"Okay. So you use owls to talk to one another. In the Wizarding world. Where there is no electrical power, at all." Piper closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "Your 'Wizarding World' doesn't sound all that great," she quip tiredly, opening her eyes and stared at the brunette woman.

"Your right there. But you can blame the minister for that," Mia growled as she peered over her friend's shoulder. "What's it say? Is it from the twins?" She asked worriedly, catching James' expression.

James didn't answer but passed her the letter, chewing on his bottom lip as he did so. Messing up his hair even more absently. Not noticing that Wyatt was watching his every move. Mia smoothed out the piece of parchment and read it quietly to herself.

_James and Mia,_

_It's Gred __**and Forge**__ here. We just wanted to say hi and how's it going. __**And to inform you that we have joined you in hiding. **__I know it's a lot sooner than any of us thought. __**But dear old Ronnikins decided that he wanted to put us on trial.**_

_What a loving brother we have been blessed with. __**Quite right Gred, **__why thank you Forge._

_But seriously you two, we had a double trial lined up for us, __**aurors to lead us to it as well, **__so we fire-called good old Bumblebee to help us out. __**Yeah, we didn't want to go to Azkaban, creeps the hell out of us. **__But we were careful, __**we could have put Mione to shame, **__shockingly we could have. No-one knew that we helped you, __**apart from Remus and Sirius of course.**_

_Oh! Did you know that Pettigrew was caught? Kingsley was the one who took him in. Sirius is now a free man! __**Got himself and Lupin quite drunk apparently, Tonks was not best pleased. **__Anyway straying off the topic slightly, we were going to be forced to take Verituserum and placed in front of the full Wizardemgot and questioned about both you and Mia. __**Not what I call a pleasant experience that we want to face, mind you, and we really don't want to see Percy and Ron looking at us all self righteous at that! **__We don't know why Ron is acting like such a prat, but he was the one who actually suggested to the minister that we should have our wands snapped! __**I personally think that he's trying to get back at us for playing all those pranks on him, not that he didn't deserve it or anything, the git. **__But he wants to press charges for helping a 'dangerous murderer' break out of Azkaban. __**Not only that, but they want to charge us with aiding you in kidnapping Mione! **__Wouldn't it be funny if they found out that it was Mia who broke you out!_

_We are leaving the shop to Remus and Tonks. Did you know that she's pregnant again? __**They're thinking of calling it Harry if it's a boy. **__Teddy is still asking after you, James, and you too Mia. He's actually changed his looks to fit the both of you! __**Now we know that if you two ever get together, we know what your kids would look like.**_

_Also we are in America, don't quite know where but you should get this letter within hours of us sending Hedwig off with it. __**Don't worry about us, guys. We'll be fine, we're not the Weasley Twins for nothing! We've had years of experience in hiding from authoritive figures. **__The aurors can't take in anyone else. They all have alibis. The only two people who might know why we've disappeared are Remus and Sirius. __**Ron doesn't have any grounds to force them to take that stupid truth potion. Who created that, anyway? **__Remus is not so sure about his rights. He thinks that aurors will just grab him and send him to trial. He may be a werewolf, but he still has rights; __**no matter how shaky.**_

_By the way, yes, this is Hedwig if you had any doubts. __**We couldn't let her fly around looking for you. It would be too suspicious for her. Everyone knows what she looks like. **__So we decided against the charm that Mione would have undoubtedly used. Sorry, Hermione, but you are just too predictable. I mean, I doubt that you would use that muggle dye. __**The mess it causes! I don't think that Hedwig really appreciated the colour change, she is, after all, a snowy owl.**_

_From you favourite twins,_

_Gred __**and Forge**_

"What does it say?" Chris asked, wincing as Wyatt's elbow connected with his ribs.

James just shook his head tiredly. Mia folded the letter back up and gave it back to James.

"The twins, friends of ours who helped in James' escape, are going into hiding. They were going to be put on trial for the escape of James here, and for my apparent 'kidnapping'."

Everyone was silent for a moment, digesting what they had just heard. Chris looked thoughtful.

"Twins? Like those red-headed ones in your Photo album?"

"Exactly how far did you get at looking in it?" Mia asked.

James grinned behind his hand, taking the letter from his friend. Chris blushed and mumbled something incohilerantly. Piper tutted, but couldn't hold back a grin at the young man's discomfort.

"How rude," Mia scolded.

James smirked. "Hedwig's a smart owl, isn't that right girl?"

Chris chuckled at Wyatt's look of surprise.

"How did the bird find you?" Wyatt asked curiously. "They're not exactly able to understand people so I don't know why you speak to her like she is human."

Mia shook her head and slapped her hand over her face. Hedwig gave an indignant hoot as she fluffed up her feathers, moving so she was now high up on James' shoulder, glaring at Wyatt.

"Sure she can't," Chris said, laughing, turning it into a cough as Mia narrowed her eyes at him, mirroring his mother.

James ignored Chris, looking over to the now sheepish Halliwell. "She's a little sensitive," he told the blond-haired man.

"A little sensitive did he say?" Chris muttered to Mia, shrinking back slightly when the owl turned her amber eyes onto him.

It was now Mia's turn to chuckle at the discomfort that Chris showed.

"She also has a great sense of hearing," James said, grinning.

Piper bit back a smile. She noted that when James smiled, his eyes _glowed_. The slight discolouration under his eyes before barely noticeable seemed to disappear.

"Well, why don't we go back into the living room?" Piper suggested, rattling her brain to find sort of topic that they could talk about.

The other occupents in the room agreed and left the kitchen, Hedwig on James' shoulder.

* * *

_Somewhere in England_

"What news do you bring me of the boy, Severus?" Voldemort hissed softly.

The man, if you could call him that, was standing in front of a statue of a Gargoyle. A mockery of the one that currently guarded the headmaster's office. His companion, a tall man wearing plain black robes and holding a white mask in his slightly trembling hand, bowed his head in submittance to the creature in front of him.

"Dumbledore has yet to locate him, my Lord. The order has split leaving it disorganised and the people quite distrusting. Most of the order still believes in Potter's guilt."

Voldemort laughed at this. His enemy was weakening, fighting amongst themselves while their precious saviour was nowhere to be found and more than likely suffering from his little stint in Azkaban. A cruel smile flitted across his face, forcing Snape to repress a shiver and to keep his eyes focused on the ground and not on the madmans' wand.

"Interesting." He said. "Tell me, Severus. Does the old fool have any inclination as to where the boy might had fled to?"

Snape mentally sighed. He was going to get crucio'd tonight. He could already feel the phantom pains of the curse tingling his nerves.

"No, my Lord. Not that I know of."

The almost silent swish of Voldemort's robe was the only warning that the bowed man got before he found himself on the floor writhing as pain engulfed his senses. After what had seemed like hours but in reality barely a minute, Voldemort released Snape from the curse.

"I'm dissapointed, Severus."

"My apologies, my Lord," Snape answered quietly.

"You are dismissed, Severus."

"Thank you, my Lord."

Severus cautiously straightened up and walked backwards, keeping his head bowed.

"Oh, and Severus?"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Bring me some useful information by the next meeting. I may not be so lenient in my punishment if you fail again."

Severus fought the urge to turn and run. He silently nodded before turning and swiftly walked out of the room.

* * *

**There you go. Also this has been put on HOLD for now and I don't know when, or even if, I will continue it. This chapter took a long time coming as I have lost some inspiration to continue this. It's just that my muse has taken me into another direction.**

**Also brought to my attention by Deviously Ruined Rose, the song in chapter 4 where I said it was 'Gives you Hell' by The All-American Rejects is actually 'Breakeven' by the Script. I had changed the song at the last minute.**


End file.
